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CHICAGO – A provisional agreement announced today will dramatically improve conditions and services for young people confined at state-run juvenile justice facilities across Illinois.  The settlement, reached in a federal class action suit filed today against the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice by youth represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, calls for the development of a specific remedial plan to fix inadequate conditions and services for youth, based on the investigation to be conducted by three independent court-appointed experts.  The Department has custody of about 1,000 youth who have been adjudicated delinquent by juvenile courts, and a legal duty to provide conditions and services adequate to rehabilitate these youth.

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The Chicago Reporter published an in-depth and heartbreaking article about how the Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) responds to cases of child abuse and neglect, highlighting an alarming trend: many of the children end up dying before DCFS can investigate. Since the 90's, the ACLU of Illinois has kept a watchful eye on DCFS, as part of a consent decree to address high caseloads and to reform guidelines and practices.

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Overcrowding at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Facility is falling, the Chicago Tribune reports. An agreement was reached in 2002 as a result of an ACLU of Illinois lawsuit to address population and safety concerns within the facility. In 2007, Earl Dunlap was appointed to run the facility and was tasked with addressing overpopulation. While overcrowding was the main concern of the lawsuit, other issues have yet to be tackled, including concerns over unsanitary conditions, and even violence by staff against the youth.

Over the past few years, the ACLU of Illinois has been working to ensure that transgender individuals who were born in Illinois are able to obtain an Illinois birth certificate with the correct gender marker.  Recently, we reached an agreement, in the form of a proposed consent decree with the State of Illinois that insures that individuals can obtain a new, accurate birth certificate without being forced to undergo genital surgery that they may not need or want, or that may not be available to them.  The court has preliminarily approved the consent decree. The next step in the process is for the judge to hold a "fairness hearing" on the matter -- set for October 23, 2012.  If you believe you are a member of the class of those affected by the settlement (the class definition is listed below), you are permitted to make comments about or objections to the proposed consent decree before it receives final approval.  You can find the details below, or by downloading this PDF.