Murphysboro

• Illinois Youth Center (IYC) Murphysboro occupies 30 acres of wooded land on the banks of the Big Muddy River, roughly twenty miles from the state's western border with Missouri. The complex opened its gates in 1997 as the only military-style boot camp offering the rehabilitation of non-violent male juvenile offenders under the purview of the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ). Currently there is no such alternative offered to female juvenile offenders.
  
  IYC Murphysboro, according to IDJJ, is intended to serve as an "eye-opening" experience for offenders ranging in age from 13 to 21 adjudicated (designated by a judge) as being juvenile delinquents. However, although a judge may recommend the fashion in which a juvenile offender may serve his sentence, the ultimate determination as to whether an offender is sent to the camp over any one of IDJJ's seven other juvenile detention facilities remains in the hands of corrections administrators.
  
  

Work Regimen

• Although IYC Murphysboro was designed to house 156 offenders at any given time, the average daily population falls well below capacity at 75. The average inmate age is 17.
  
  True to IYC Murphysboro's emulation of discipline found in military basic training, inmates--referred to as "cadets"--are given camouflage fatigues and adhere to a seven-day 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. regimen.
  
  As would be expected in a boot camp setting, physical labor comprises a fair amount of a cadet's workload. IYC Murphysboro cadets take part in Habitat for Humanity construction programs in outlying communities, engage in clearing work for the U.S. Forest Service and are responsible for some grounds keeping at nearby Kinkaid Lake and Lake Murphysboro Park.
  
  

Education and Rehabilitation

• Despite the heavy physical labor component of a cadet's program at IYC Murphysboro, IDJJ maintains that education and rehabilitation are the core components of the boot camp experience and are integral to the department's stated goal of ensuring that juvenile offenders do not return to the criminal justice system later on in life. As such, cadets take part in vocational training and take courses on writing resumes and managing their personal finances.
  
  Since the bulk of non-violent juvenile offenders sent to IYC Murphysboro have been convicted of drug or alcohol-related charges, the camp's team of administrators and counselors also offers drug and alcohol treatment classes.
  
  Perhaps the course that IDJJ places the heaviest emphasis on is the camp's GED accreditation program. Attaining an education and skills essential to employment are the camp's stated foundation.
  
  "Education and programming are important tools in positive learning and rehabilitation," said Illinois Department of Corrections Juvenile Division Deputy Director Kurt Friedenauer in an IDJJ press release issued on the occasion of the camp's 100th graduating class of cadets in 2006. "Cadets learn skills that will help them achieve success in school and have greater self-control and better peer relations."
  
  

Cook County

• While IYC Murphysboro is the only juvenile boot camp program offered by the state Department of Corrections, the Cook County Sheriff's Office--whose jurisdiction spans the greater Chicago metropolitan area--offers a similar program, though it is geared more toward young adults than to juveniles.
  
  Located next to the Cook County Department of Corrections complex on Chicago's south side, the boot camp is available as an alternative to longer prison sentences for prisoners between the ages of 17 and 35 who have never been convicted of a violent or sex-related offense and who have served no more than one previous state prison term. Eligible offenders must also have pleaded guilty to their charge and requested to be placed in the program.
  
  The boot camp program consists of two parts: an intensive 18-week military-style training program intended to instill discipline and an 8-month supervised release period, during which an offender is required to return to the camp once a day to take part in educational training. The supervised release phase may also include random drug screening.
  
  As with the IDJJ Murphysboro program, the Cook County Sheriff's Office boot camp places a heightened emphasis on drug and alcohol counseling and education.
  
  The boot camp is an accredited GED testing site and offers pre-GED coursework to those pursuing their certification. According to the Cook County Sheriff's Office, more than 1,000 boot camp inmates have earned their GEDs through the program since its inception in 1997.
  
  According to the Cook County Sheriff's Office, the program has had a beneficial effect regarding what is often the revolving door of criminal justice. Of the over 4,000 inmates who have successfully completed the program, the department has seen only a 30 percent recidivism rate during the first five years post-release.
  
  

Visitation

• If you or a friend or family member may be taking part in either the Cook County or IDJJ experience, or you want to schedule a visit with someone incarcerated in either program, it is important to remember and adhere to departmental guidelines.
  
  For visitation of both programs there are a few constants to keep in mind, which apply to visitation of most jails and prisons.
  
  You must have a vaild form of photo identification. This includes a valid state driver's license or state identification card, a military identification card, a valid passport or visa, a valid alien registration card, a public aid photo identification card or a photo school identification card.
  
  There are certain items that you will want to leave at home or in your car when checking in for a visit at either facility. These items include commonsense items such as any drugs or alcohol, along with any type of weapon. Some other items that are less obvious but prohibited nonetheless are newspapers and magazines, cell phones, music players, nail clippers, books and food.
  
  All visitors to IYC Murphysboro, as it is a camp geared more exclusively toward minors, must be on the inmate's list of approved visitors.
  
  For a complete set of visitation guidelines for either facility, along with visiting schedules, refer to the websites of the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice and the Cook County Sheriff's Office.