Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration says closing the Kewanee youth correctional facility would save up to $14-million next year for improved programming for young offenders.
The Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice announced it would close the center 150 miles southwest of Chicago by July 1. Agency spokesman Michael Theodore says the savings would upgrade existing facilities for Kewanee transfers.
The American Civil Liberties Union was pleased. It won a 2012 lawsuit requiring the agency to provide better education, mental health treatment and more.
Costly improvements were made to Kewanee for maximum-security offenders when a Joliet center closed in 2013. And Kewanee has a treatment program for sex offenders.
