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Kewanee Juvenile Center To Close

Downtown Kewanee
Bill Whittiker
/
CC by 2.0
Downtown Kewanee

Governor Bruce Rauner's administration says it will close the youth correctional facility in Kewanee.

Downtown Kewanee
Credit Bill Whittiker / CC by 2.0
/
CC by 2.0
Downtown Kewanee

Juvenile Justice Director Candice Jones says closing the facility, which opened in 2001, will save money, improve rehabilitation of young offenders, and improve community safety. She did not say how much money shuttering the center would save or how those savings would be used.

Anders Lindall is spokesman for the state council of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. He says administrators ``blind-sided'' Kewanee staff with the announcement this morning. He says costly improvements were made to Kewanee to receive maximum-security offenders when the Joliet Youth Center closed in 2013. And Kewanee has a treatment program for sex offenders. Kewanee is 150 miles southwest of Chicago.

post by WGLT/Illinois State University

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