Two reports compiled by independent, court-ordered monitors reveal that Cook County officials are placing children under their care at risk by failing to implement improvements - improvements they first agreed to implement nearly three years ago -- at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC). The reports, submitted to U.S. District Court Judge John Nordberg in Chicago today, demonstrate that the County has failed to make sufficient progress to improve the basic conditions for adolescents housed at the facility. The specific areas to be improved were spelled out in a Memorandum of Agreement in Doe v. Cook County, a lawsuit filed on behalf of the children detained at JTDC in 1999.

One report, by Michael J. Mahoney, raises concerns about violence and the use of physical restraints at the JTDC. Recent media accounts indicate that children at the JTDC regularly are subjected to a "chokehold" technique by staff, a measure that children at JTDC describe as "putting someone to sleep." The statements of the children, coupled with today's report, makes clear that Cook County has failed to take meaningful steps to control this behavior.

The Mahoney report also makes clear that no consistent discipline policy currently exists in the facility. As a result, one of the most extreme forms of discipline permitted under a court-supervised agreement between the parties - room confinement - continues to be imposed for petty offenses. Such room confinements can last up to 36 hours according to the agreement, but the report makes clear that they last longer in some instances. Moreover, the Mahoney report notes that such confinement often is imposed without any meaningful review.

The second independent monitor, Charles Fasano, reported other chronic problems at the JTDC. That report noted that key staff positions at the facility remain vacant for an undue period of time, positions that affect the youth at the facility directly. The report notes that the failure to fill these key positions "impede efforts to enhance security and supervision and provide the range of programs and services required by the MOA."

In releasing the reports today, the ACLU of Illinois emphasized the fact that the monitors addressed only a small fraction of the more than fifty specific areas detailed in the Memorandum of Agreement. The County has failed to make any significant progress on most of the other areas as well, the ACLU of Illinois said today.

"More than three years after signing the Memorandum of Agreement, Cook County still has not taken responsibility for fixing many of the problems at the JTDC," said Benjamin Wolf, Associate Legal Director for the ACLU. "Ensuring appropriate, uniform disciplinary policies and limiting the use of physical force by staff on the children at the facility were central to our agreement with the County. The reports we see today confirm what our clients have been telling us - most things are not improving. Discipline remains capricious and harsh and staff on youth violence is a continuing problem."

Mahoney and Fasano were appointed by the court to review progress at JTDC. The reports submitted cover only a small fraction of the issues set for improvement under the Memorandum of Agreement, approved by Judge Nordberg in December 2002. The areas were selected by the parties because of their importance to the daily lives and safety of the children detained at JTDC.

Copies of the reports are available at http://www.aclu-il.org/news/archives/jtdcreport.pdf and http://www.aclu-il.org/news/archives/jtdcreport2.pdf