Overall, 667 people have alleged they were sexually abused as children at youth facilities in Illinois through lawsuits filed since May. The most recent complaints detail alleged abuse from 1996 to 2021, including rape, forced oral sex and beatings by corrections officers, nurses, kitchen staff, chaplains and others.

Three lawsuits filed Monday detail abuse from 1996 to 2021, including rape, forced oral sex and beatings by corrections officers, nurses, kitchen staff, chaplains and others. Overall, 667 people have alleged they were sexually abused as children at youth facilities run by the state and Cook County in lawsuits filed since May.

The Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center abruptly closed on Dec. 31. The judge who ordered the closure said staffing shortages made it difficult to meet state standards for caring for youth in custody.

State audits point to troubling conditions in juvenile detention centers, but no agency has strong enough oversight to bring about change.

Illinois will close five large juvenile detention centers as part of a plan unveiled Friday by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in an effort to “transform” the current system, which Pritzker called “too punitive and too ineffective.”

One in 10 school resource officers stationed within Chicago Public Schools have had 10 or more misconduct complaints lodged against them, operating in a system with little oversight and no specialized training, a new study by the Shriver Center states.

How can Chicago stem the surge of violence? Police, prosecutors, and judges offered ideas Thursday for dealing with troubled youth, some of whom offered ideas of their own. 

Four parents sued Cook County because their sons were held in juvenile detention for days without a hearing. Now that common practice is changing. Assessing the impact of that move.

17-year-old criminal offenders in Illinois will go to juvenile detention instead of jail beginning next year. We have the details about why that has some concerned. Read an article.

Out of the detention center and back into the community. We go inside Cook County’s new “tough love” approach to juvenile justice.