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Troubled Kids vs. Local Budgets: Shaky bottom lines driving strategies to deal with troubled youth?

Active juvenile caseloads, Illinois 1990-1998
"The Status of Juvenile Detention in Illinois, Annual Report 1998"

There's not much Kevin Lyons can say about spending on juvenile cases that pass through his office. Except this: "Somebody's got to stop the bleeding."

In the nine years between 1991 and 2000, Peoria County's costs to put delinquent juveniles in residential treatment programs swelled from $73,000 to $1.1 million. And that's not because of a flood of bad kids. Only two dozen Peoria County juveniles were placed in residential treatment in 2000. But because some of these facilities - especially those that treat young sex offenders - charge up to $300 a day per child, it's easy to see how county officials are struggling to pay the bills.

"What's wrong with that picture? Plenty," says Lyons, Peoria County's state's attorney, who adds that one juvenile sex offender's treatment cost the county $74,500 last year. 

"From a prosecutor's viewpoint, we cannot save the world. And even if we could, we can't afford it. Somewhere between a million dollars for 22 kids and zero dollars is the appropriate amount, but I'm here to tell you that $1 million is not."

Peoria County is not alone. Statewide, the rising costs of residential treatment have become budget-busters for practically every county. Further, over the past six years, the state's child welfare agency has diminished its role in helping counties fund the burden of treating kids. 

As a result of these changing fiscal and political realities, some counties have opted to relieve themselves of the responsibility by bouncing problem kids back to the state. While no one wants to point fingers, academics and county officials alike believe some kids are sent to the Illinois Department of Corrections simply because no financial and programmatic resources exist to treat them locally. Rather than ante up for treatment, counties are sending them to state correctional institutions where they might not really belong. And that has some researchers wondering whether concern about the bottom line has become more important to some local officials than the children's welfare.

Nevertheless, Michael Rohan sees something positive in all the red ink. As director of probation and court services for Cook County, Rohan has a residential treatment budget that has swelled from $3 million just a couple of years ago to $12 million for basically the same number of kids, about 300 a year. Yet, while he has first-hand experience with the financial problem, Rohan supports the social trend toward treating rather than simply detaining troubled youth.

"There's a realization that [delinquency] oftentimes is driven by clinical issues. It's a healthy awareness that we have now. Probably in the early '90s we weren't asking the right questions. Is this a special education issue, a mental health issue, a drug issue?" Mainly, we're spending more because we're doing more. There's been a shift, an attempt to heal, not just detain. And, "Oh, yes," says Rohan, "it's very, very costly."

In fact, the trend toward treatment led the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to begin in the mid-'80s to take on more of the burden of paying to place juveniles in residential treatment where they could receive help for everything from substance abuse to sexual deviancy. But a decade later, the agency found that its budget was strained by the rising costs of these programs and an increasing number of children needing the help. Consequently, the agency redefined its role and began returning responsibility for the kids to the counties. 

"We never had that authority," says Jess McDonald, director of children and family services, "but, in a lot of jurisdictions, the courts made liberal interpretations as to the needs of the child. The judges were being told, 'Ship the kids to DCFS.'" 

In 1995, the Department of Children and Family Services changed its policy and stopped paying for residential treatment.
Credit "The Status of Juvenile Detention in Illinois, Annual Report 1998"
In 1995, the Department of Children and Family Services changed its policy and stopped paying for residential treatment.

That changed in 1995, when attempts were made to refocus the agency. "We were told, 'You need to be the agency that helps abused and neglected kids. And that's it. And you need to do it right,'" McDonald says. "It's a very narrow mission we have now, but it's exactly what it should have been all along." 

Unfortunately, the change has swamped some counties.

In Peoria County, 20 juveniles were placed in residential treatment in 1995, at a cost of $165,875. In 1996, the year the legislation was enacted and the children and family services agency stopped footing the bill for many placements, the county spent $563,353 for 21 juveniles.

"In Peoria County we have some flexibility, but, in some jurisdictions, they're sent to [the Illinois Department of Corrections] or home," says Steven Kossman, Peoria County's director of probation and court services.

Meanwhile, Vermilion County, on Illinois' eastern edge with Danville as the county seat, no longer can afford any residential treatment for juveniles. "We used to when it was court ordered, but it's been about five years," says Judy Hartshorn, Vermilion County's deputy director of juvenile detention.

She believes local judges don't force the issue because the county, with no juvenile detention facility of its own, pays $125 a day to lock up kids in Kane County. "The county can only afford so much." A Vermilion County detention center is under construction though and expected to open this September.

Will County, too, has no budget for residential treatment - and never has. "I think [the county board] probably doesn't want to get into it because of the cost," says Douglas Wilson, chief juvenile probation officer for that county. The only juveniles who get residential treatment are those whose parents can afford it or those few who are still covered by the Department of Children and Family Services. Even sex offenders, says Wilson, get outpatient counseling and electronic monitoring at home.

"It's been this way for the 25 years I've been here. In some ways maybe it's easier because we're consistent. If we don't send some kids, it's not just because we're out of money. All in all, I've been comfortable [with this strategy]."

Will County spends about $320,000 for nonresidential treatment of 150 juveniles each year.

A county's bottom line is a political reality, but some experts warn that Illinois officials may be doing more damage to kids and society if they don't take more than dollars and cents into account.

"By devolving the responsibility to the counties, [the state has] ensured only that the treatment will be less adequate because cost is always going to be an issue," says David Reed, research director with Northwestern University's Children and Family Justice Center.

The result, though, is that counties throughout Illinois treat similar cases differently, depending on financial capabilities.

"We looked at how boys and girls are treated differently in the system, and we studied some southern Illinois counties. There is absolutely no question that because there is no money, the kids are sent to DOC. "Although $200 a day sounds like an outrageous rip-off, I think there's a much greater cost if we don't treat them. It's an intangible cost, but it's a huge cost. How do you put a price on the cost of being victimized?"

Reed believes the state should step back in, with money and a centralized system for handling juvenile cases. But, with the state already slowing payment of its bills to reflect a worrisome economy, that might be the last place counties can expect help. Instead, some local officials are exploring cost containment measures.

Peoria County plans to start asking for progress reports and setting deadlines for treatment providers. "The other part of all this is that with these placements, once gone, they go virtually unchecked," says Peoria County's Lyons. "The juvenile stays for as long as the facility says. I would say that's almost an abdication of our duties to let that happen."

The approach by officials in DuPage and Cook counties is different, but their goal, too, is to get more direct say over treatment and results. They may be the only counties statewide trying multisystemic therapy, in which they hire therapists who will work intensely with the whole family, not just the juvenile. That way, the theory goes, the cure isn't wasted when the kid returns home. Instead, ideally, the whole family structure has been fixed. 

"I'm hopeful," says Cook County's Rohan, who plans to remove 60 kids from residential treatment for this pilot project. "There is some scientific data that demonstrates there is efficacy for [this] intervention strategy." 

DuPage County, which started the same program in November, has already seen "significant progress" in three or four cases. "We're very, very pleased in the short-term," says John Bentley, director of probation and court services. "We're trying to treat the family dynamic and not just the child."

The savings could be dramatic. Bentley expects a $300,000 investment, which is being funded by state grants, to save his county $1 million in residential treatment costs. Still, it's not all about the money.

"I'm not driven by that money issue. Yes, it opens up the political door for reform, but I just don't think [residential treatment] works."

Throughout Illinois, many counties are struggling to find the best balance, one that takes into account the needs of juveniles without busting the budget. For his part, Lyons is keeping a close eye on Peoria County's spending. He has to. Children and Family Services, now free of the additional financial burden, has no intention of chipping in again, and state officials, happy with the status quo, have no thoughts of asking them to.

Jennifer Davis, a former Illinois Issues Statehouse bureau chief, covers politics and county government for the Peoria Journal Star.

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