Senator Taylor Pushes Juvenile Corrections Reform
"I’ve been calling for something to be done about Lincoln Hills for years."
(MADISON) – Today Senator Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee) took part in a joint public hearing of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety and the Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety. The committee’s single agenda item focused on Assembly Bill 188, a bill that has been offered as a fix to address concerns raised by state agencies and county officials in connection to the closing of Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Juvenile Correctional Facilities. After the public Hearing, Senator Taylor released the following statement:
“I’ve been calling for something to be done about Lincoln Hills for years. We are closer than we’ve ever been to changing the way we provide juvenile corrections in this state. I appreciate the need to provide realistic timelines for the transition to a new system and infrastructure. However, while we debate and move deadlines for the completion of this process, we do it from the comfort of our offices and hearing rooms.
We can’t forget how we got here and the urgency that is required to address the long list of problems in our existing juvenile facilities. Now more than ever, it’s crucial that we stay on track and keep members of the community involved in the conversation every step of the way, and I fully intend to do that.
Whether it’s opportunities for public comment, continuing to review facility location recommendations, or ensuring that we are clear about who has the final decision in the process, I want to get this right. That said, we need to move with deliberate speed to remove both staff and detained youth from the troubling situation that we have found ourselves in regarding juvenile corrections.”
More about the Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake
- Evers Proposes $45.8 Million for Milwaukee Juvenile Facility - Gretchen Schuldt - Mar 1st, 2021
- MKE County: County Has Just 22 Inmates in Youth Prisons - Edgar Mendez - Feb 24th, 2021
- Evers Pushes Juvenile Justice System Changes - Corri Hess - Feb 18th, 2021
- Youth Justice Milwaukee Calls for Transformation of the Wisconsin Youth Justice System as the State Acknowledges it Will Not Meet the July 2021 Deadline to Close Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Prisons - Youth Justice Milwaukee - Feb 8th, 2021
- Pandemic Causes Youth Prison Problems - Graham Kilmer - Jan 27th, 2021
- Can State Rescue Youth Corrections Plan? - Graham Kilmer - Jan 11th, 2021
- State Can’t Meet Deadline to Close Youth Prisons - Graham Kilmer - Dec 30th, 2020
- MKE County: Crowley Defers Youth Corrections Grant Until State Has Sustainable Plan - Graham Kilmer - Sep 16th, 2020
- State Blows Up County Youth Corrections Plan - Graham Kilmer - May 20th, 2020
- Youth Advocates Remain Committed to Closing Wisconsin Youth Prisons Following Monitor’s Report - American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin - Mar 5th, 2020
Read more about Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake here
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