HEADLINES : Illinois

Quinn to call for dozens of prison, human services closures

The Chicago Tribune | by Ray Long and Monique Garcia | February 21, 2012

Facing troubling finances, Gov. Pat Quinn on Wednesday plans to call for widespread closures and consolidation in agencies dealing with social services, state police and prisons, including the shutdown of the controversial super-maximum prison in deep Southern Illinois, according to budget documents obtained by the Tribune.

Along with the supermax at Tamms, the women's prison in Dwight would be closed along with juvenile justice centers at Joliet and Murphysboro.In addition to pre-planned closures of Tinley Mental Health Center and Jacksonville Developmental Center, Quinn will call for closure of the Singer Mental Health Center in Rockford and Murray Developmental Center in Centralia in spring 2013.

There also are several smaller offices slated for closure and consolidation within the Department of Corrections. Those include adult transition centers known as Crossroads Chicago, Westside Chicago, Aurora, Decatur, Carbondale and Peoria.

The Department of Children and Family Services will consolidate offices in its Chicago division. The Department of Human Services would close two dozen local offices across the state, according to the documents.

 

 

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