Cronin pushes for DuPage youth home closure

Despite putting an additional $400,000 in next year's budget to operate DuPage County's youth home, county board Chairman Dan Cronin says he hopes it's money that won't be spent.

Cronin said DuPage and Kane officials are continuing to negotiate a plan to close the DuPage County Juvenile Detention Center and transfer its detainees to Kane's regional facility in St. Charles.

In fact, he expects DuPage County Board members to be presented with a proposed agreement “in short order.”

With officials estimating that DuPage could save at least $800,000 annually, Cronin said it would be “irresponsible” not to pursue the partnership.

“So we're pursing it,” Cronin told members of the Daily Herald Editorial Board this week. “I think it's the right thing to do. And I am comfortable and confident the county board will be supportive.”

The chairman's endorsement of the idea is drawing a strong reaction from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents the Wheaton facility's union employees.

Kathy McNamara, president of AFSCME Local 3328, pointed to the fact that several judges and local law enforcement officials want DuPage's youth home to stay open.

“We have all agreed that the detention center and its staff have done a great job,” McNamara said. “Why is Cronin willing to risk that? These kids are going to be exposed to different gangs and a different population of kids. It's a gamble with the safety of our community.”

Cronin said he takes the mission of helping troubled youths “very seriously.” And while DuPage's youth home used to be an award-winning facility, he said its programs aren't up to par with what's being offered at the Kane County Juvenile Justice Center.

“Our people at the youth in DuPage will acknowledge that their programs are not what they used to be,” Cronin said. “Even if we spend the $400,000 ... it still doesn't get the facility to the level of service that it was at one time. We would have to invest a lot more (money) than that.”

The Wheaton facility needs the extra $400,000 just to stay open because of state budget cuts. It had more money in its budget and a much larger staff the last time it won an award in 2006.

In order to restore the youth home's services to an award-winning level, officials have said at least $630,000 would be needed to hire more detention officers, social workers and nurses — positions that previously were eliminated.

Meanwhile, Cronin said Kane already has “a first-rate program” serving youth detainees from Kane, DeKalb, Kendall and McHenry counties. “We can offer that to our juvenile offenders, and we can save the taxpayers money,” he said.

But McNamara said it's debatable whether the programs at Kane's facility are superior.

“We have people who work here who used to work in Kane,” she said. “They will argue that point. It's easy to make a decision when you look at a building. It's not so easy when you see the work that is done every day — and you are the one doing the work.”