State freezes grant, imperils future of Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center

Budgetary move eliminates funding totally for FY 2016

 Staff Report

A recent budgetary decision by Governor Bruce Rauner has left Franklin County officials scrambling. County leaders have been informed by the Governor that funding for the Methamphetamine Treatment Program at the Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center has been frozen for the remainder of the fiscal year, and that he is proposing to eliminate funding for the program altogether in fiscal year 2016.

juvie 1The move not only endangers a program that has been highlighted as a national model of success, it also imperils the future of the Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center.

The Methamphetamine Treatment Program has been one of the most successful programs in the nation at treating amphetamine addiction in juveniles. In fact, its success rates were recently featured in the Journal of Psychology as an evidence-based treatment model for the treatment of addicts in an incarcerated setting. Since its inception, the program has served 41 counties throughout southern and central Illinois. For many juveniles, the program is an alternative to incarceration in an Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice facility. The state currently funds the Methamphetamine Treatment Program at a rate of $1.2 million per year.

juvie 2The program is vital to the continued operation of the Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center, which served 573 juveniles from 30 counties in 2014 alone.

“We feel that the Governor is making a mistake by freezing our funding, and proposing its elimination next year,” said Franklin County Board Chairman Randall Crocker. “The Meth Program is a program that is proven to work, and it makes a difference in kids’ lives. This program and the Juvenile Detention Center is important not only to Franklin County, but to counties throughout Southern Illinois. If Governor Rauner is seriously committed to justice reform, he should be encouraging programs like this, not eliminating them.”

Franklin County has received letters of support from many of the counties who use the program, and more come in every day. “We’re not going down without a fight,” added Crocker. “Senator Forby and Representative Bradley have pledged their continued support of the program, and we are going to do anything we can to help as they take the fight to Springfield.”

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