Juvenile Justice System and Risk Factor Data - Illinois Criminal ...

Corrections data
The Illinois Department of Juvenile Justi ce (IDJJ) is the state corrections system for juveniles. It
began operations as a separate entity from the Illinois Department of Correction (IDOC), the
state correctional system for adults, on July 1, 2006. However, IDJJ continues to share certain
services with IDOC. One of these shared services is IDOC’s Planning and Research Unit, which
provides research entities, including the Authority, with yearly admissions files. As a result the
data were provided by IDOC’s Planning and Research Unit and is cited as such. However, the
numbers used in the report are the Authority’s interpretations of these data.
IDJJ provides long-term custody in Illinois Youth Centers (IYCs) to youth who are at least 13
years old. According to 730 ILCS 5/3-10-7(b), a youth sentenced as a juvenile may remain
within the IDOC Juvenile Division until age 21, unless juvenile division administrators file a
petition to transfer the youth to the adult corrections division or prison under the guidelines set
forth in 730 ILCS 5/3-10-7(a). IDJJ also houses youth 16 years of age and younger who were
sentenced as adults until they are at least 17 years old at which point they are usually transferred
to adult IDOC facilities unless extenuating circumstances, such as a youth’s physical or
emotional vulnerability, are argued by correctional officials for the youth to remain in an IYC.
In FY07, youth were committed to one of eight Illinois Youth Centers located throughout Illinois
(Appendix D). In FY05, the average annual cost to house one youth in an Illinois Youth Center
was $70,827, although the cost per youth varies considerably across the centers. 27
Court commitments (new sentence commitments from the court) are often distinguished from
technical violation recommitments. In this report, court commitments to IDOC include youth
who were adjudicated delinquent and sentenced to IDJJ for their offenses, as well as court
evaluations, which are 30, 60, or 90-day commitments used to assess their needs so a judge can
make a more informed sentencing decision. 28 Based on the court evaluation, a youth could be
released from IDJJ custody by a juvenile court judge or given a court evaluation return to an
IYC to serve an indeterminate term. Both court evaluation admissions and court evaluation
returns are considered new sentence court commitments.
Youth sentenced as juveniles in Illinois receive indeterminate sentences. While release dates
are unknown, they cannot exceed the youth’s 21 st birthday. Juveniles sentenced to IDJJ may
remain under the supervision (either in custody or on parole) of IDJJ until their 21 st birthday, or
until IDJJ petitions the court for early termination of parole and discharge from IDJJ
custodianship [705 ILCS 405/5-750(6)]. A juvenile may not be incarcerated for a longer time
period than would an adult who committed the same offense. Discretionary early release from an
IDJJ facility based on conditions and supervision from IDJJ for an indeterminate sentence is
referred to as parole.
Juveniles sentenced as adults in Illinois serve their sentences in IDJJ at least until their 17 th
birthdays. Usually, they are then transferred to an adult IDOC facility; however they can remain
in an IDJJ facility until they are 21 years old if the decision is made by corrections officials that
it is in the best interest of the youth. Juveniles sentenced as adults receive determinate
sentences and all supervisory requirements after release (mandatory supervised release) that an
52