PETITION CLOSED

  • The time period for signing this petition has ended.
Tell Gov. Quinn to Stand Firm in Closing IYC-Murphysboro
  1. Signatures
    41 out of 1,000
    Petitioning
    1. Governor of Illinois (Governor Pat Quinn)
  2. Created By
    Mariame Kaba
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

Governor Pat Quinn has announced plans to close one of Illinois's eight youth prisons - IYC Murphysboro - as early as this November. Closing this youth prison will save the state $3.1 million in FY12. While we do not celebrate the loss of jobs, we do applaud the Governor for his efforts to decrease the number of youth who are incarcerated in Illinois while also saving money that can be used to better address the needs of this population.

Why People Are Signing
Recent Signatures

Stand Firm in Closing IYC-Murphysboro

Greetings,

I would like to tell Governor that I fully support his decision to close IYC- Murphysboro. In a recent column, Betsy Clarke offered the following assessment of the Illinois Youth Prisons:
"llinois currently runs eight separate far-flung juvenile facilities to house an average of less than 1,200 youth. These eight facilities are costly. The average annual cost per bed has rapidly risen from $70,915 five years ago to an estimate of more than $90,000 this year. The per bed cost at the Murphysboro youth prison, which the governor plans to close, is far above average and climbed to $142,342 per bed in FY10. Operation of each facility entails significant administrative costs as does collective oversight and management of the eight separate facilities.

If each of the eight facilities ran quality programming with successful results, there might be justification for continuing their operation. The facts, however, are dismally opposite. Reports document a juvenile prison system that is ineffective, with over half the youth returning to juvenile prisons within three years. Most facilities struggle to maintain minimal educational programming, let alone adequate mental health treatment, recreation or vocational classes."

We believe that it is right to close IYC-Murphysboro on both humanitarian and fiscal grounds.

Thank you.

[Your name]

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