The 2005 Veto Session of the Illinois General Assembly will be remembered for a major victory. Last Friday, the Illinois Senate followed the lead of the Illinois House and voted to create a new, independent Department of Juvenile Justice that operates separate from the adult prison system. The Governor has indicated that he will sign the legislation!

If you are interested in seeing how your state senator or state representative voted, you can go to http://www.ilga.gov and look under Senate Bill 92.

The current system - a single Department of Corrections housing 44,000 adults and 1600 juveniles - is overwhelmed by the needs of the adult population and emphasizes security and punishment rather than individualized treatment and the type of services that help youth avoid future run-ins with the law.

Many thanks to all of you who reached out to your state representative and urged him/her to support this critical first step toward reform of our juvenile justice system! We all can be proud of this accomplishment.