About Cook County JTDC
The Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, originally known as the Arthur J. Audy Home, is one of the largest juvenile detention facilities in the United States. Located in Chicago, the facility was designed to temporarily house minors awaiting trial or sentencing.
Instead of providing rehabilitation, investigations have revealed that generations of vulnerable youth were subjected to violence, mistreatment, and trauma at the hands of staff members who were supposed to protect them.
A 1999 federal class-action lawsuit exposed numerous issues including abuse, overcrowding, inadequate medical care, and substandard living conditions. A settlement required the county to address these problems, but continued noncompliance led a federal court to appoint an administrator to enforce the agreement.
In 2008, the state took control over the JTDC following years of legal challenges surrounding conditions at the facility. Despite these interventions, allegations of abuse continued.
NBC Chicago (July 2024)
Attorneys filed lawsuits against Cook County and the State of Illinois, alleging decades of abuse at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. The complaint, more than 400 pages long, alleges staff at the detention center sexually abused inmates. "The perpetrators in these cases are detention officers, counselors, medical staff, even supervisors. The very people entrusted with keeping children safe were the ones perpetrating the sexual abuse."
Source: NBC Chicago
Capitol News Illinois (July 2024)
The complaints allege jail officials "implemented systematic and unconstitutional strip searches of juvenile inmates" at the juvenile jail and that those searches "provided the opportunity" for sexual abuse of minors. The lawsuits were filed on behalf of 193 men and women who were housed in the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center between 1995 and 2022.
Source: Capitol News Illinois