IRMA, Wis. (WSAU) — A contingent of Democratic lawmakers are in northern Wisconsin to get a first-hand look at a troubled juvenile detention facility. Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca of Kenosha and Assistant Minority Leader Katrina Shankland of Stevens Point are part of the group visiting Lincoln Hills School For Boys at Irma.
Barca says the reports of problems at the juvenile facility, and the lack of information about what’s behind the problems has prompted him to make the trip so he can try to find out first-hand what’s going on inside Lincoln Hills. “We’ve heard a mixed situation there. I know that there’s a lot of what we’re told is forced overtime. You see a lot of people who are very exhausted. We’ve heard they’ve been having trouble in some cases recruiting staff, and we’re told that things are not going terrific right now, now I don’t know if that’s the case. You hear the stuff anecdotally, you can’t be certain what the story is, but since the Governor won’t release the records, we don’t know.”
The Democrats plan to spend much of the day looking for answers, so they can try to do something about it. “We’re hoping to talk with some of the staff and administrators there, and obviously, it’s been in the news. It’s very serious problems from assaults of children who are at the facility to issues with guards being assaulted, for that matter, and so we want to find out what the story is.”
Democrats have been critical of the Governor Scott Walker administration over the lack of information available about problem agencies, including Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and the Department of Corrections. “The Governor’s not releasing open records, so I know the news media has been very frustrated because they can’t even find out what’s going on there.”
There have been reports of juveniles being mistreated and assaulted inside the facility. There have also been reports of corrections staff being assaulted. Several administrative team members have either been removed or put on leave while the state investigates the facility. Milwaukee County is one area where they are trying not to send any new juveniles to Lincoln Hills and they are attempting to bring some of their incarcerated juveniles back closer to home.
(Listen to our interview about Lincoln Hills with Peter Barca on our website, here.)
