St. Charles youth site appears safe from closure

SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Youth Center in St. Charles isn’t expected to be among the facilities Gov. Pat Quinn will target for closure, a source with knowledge of the situation said.

Quinn said publicly last week that he’d propose closing “quite a few” state facilities, including perhaps more than one youth prison. But the source said St. Charles isn’t on the list.

Quinn has pushed to close several facilities throughout Illinois during his time in office, but his major efforts have come up short. Another push could come Wednesday, when Quinn gives his annual budget proposal to lawmakers.

Most of the targeted closures have focused downstate.

The Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice lists the population of the St. Charles center at 328 juveniles, all male. And most of the boys in the Juvenile Justice system are processed in St. Charles.

State Sen. Chris Lauzen, an Aurora Republican, said he hadn’t heard if Quinn had any plans for the center, but questioned how Quinn would make his decisions.

“I wonder how they’re going about that,” he said.

Quinn, as he has before, could look at closing facilities as a way to help with the state’s messy finances.

Last week, Rep. Tim Schmitz, a Batavia Republican, said he hadn’t heard any suggestion that the St. Charles youth center would be on the closure list.