Milwaukee officials have been concerned about the high costs and distance from families associated with the juvenile correctional system, both of which the county aims to address with the expansion underway at the Vel R. Phillips Youth and Family Justice Center.
The overall aim – of both local and state officials– is for the expanded facility to better address the needs of juvenile offenders so they do not continue going in and out of the justice system.
“This was very intentional,” said District 10 Alderwoman Sharlen Moore. “The remake … was really centered around — how do we create a space where young people can have the programming and the support that they need … so that they don’t recidivate.”
In 2000, Moore founded Urban Underground, an organization that provides, among other things, leadership and civic training for Milwaukee’s youths.
New and improved
When completed, the expanded facility will be what’s known as a Secure Residential Care Center for Children and Youth, or SRCCCY, a type of facility outlined in 2017 Act 185.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, these facilities are for children with correctional placement dispositions, which means youths are determined to be: responsible for an act that would otherwise be punishable by a sentence of six months or more if it were committed by an adult; a danger to the public; or in need of in-custody treatment.
Act 185, enacted in March 2018, calls for the closure of Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls and the replacement of these prisons by facilities closer to the communities in which incarcerated youths reside.
This is what the Department of Corrections calls a “regionalized” approach to juvenile justice.
A regionalized approach in Milwaukee will include both a new Type 1 prison and a SRCCCY.
The forthcoming Type 1 prison–the most secure type – will be for Milwaukee boys in the custody of the state.
SRCCCYs are facilities for both boys and girls who are in the custody of a county or tribal nation, Beth Hardtke, director of communications for the Department of Corrections, said in an email.
Certain child welfare agencies may also operate one, according to Act 185.
Milwaukee County officials are seizing the opportunity presented by the state funding.
In April 2023, the county board officially approved state money for a SRCCCY. On July 10, construction of the project began.
“We’re very excited about it,” said Kelly Pethke, administrator for Milwaukee County Children, Youth and Family Services. “We’ve been talking about this and working on this project since 2018.”
Addressing distance and costs
The Secure Residential Care Center for Children and Youth will replace the current program at Vel R. Phillips, a short-term placement program also known as the Milwaukee County Accountability Program.
The county’s accountability program, started in 2012, serves as a county alternative to being sent to the state-run Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake.
But sometimes there is a waitlist for the county’s program, and, Pethke said, a judge may not want to wait and may order the kid to Lincoln Hills or Copper Lake.
By expanding the local facility, more youths can be housed there and avoid this sort of situation.
The county’s program has 24 spots, but the SRCCCY will have 32.
The distance between Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake also is significant.
Vel R. Phillips is in Wauwatosa, while Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake are in Irma, a four-hour drive from Milwaukee.
Fewer kids going to Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake means less money the county has to pay, because if kids in the custody of the county are sent to a state prison, the county has to pay a state rate, said Pethke.
The difference is significant.
The current daily rate for each kid incarcerated at a state-run prison is $1,268 per day, or $462,820 per year, according to Department of Corrections Secretary Jared Hoy.
The daily rate in the county’s accountability program is about a third of that–about $460 per day– depending on the services provided, said Pethke.
The daily rate for kids in the SRCCCY has not been precisely determined yet, but is on target to be less than Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake, Pethke said.
Also important to consider is that the most recent daily rate requested in the state’s correctional budget for 2025-2027 would, if approved, increase the daily rate for kids at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake.
According to the Department of Corrections agency budget request, the proposed daily rate for a kid at Lincoln Hills or Copper Lake, effective July 2025, would be $2,305. The proposed daily rate for a kid at Lincoln Hills or Copper Lake, effective July 2026, would be $2,361.
Other benefits
When the SRCCCY replaces the county’s accountability program, it also will be able to engage kids in more robust ways, Pethke said.
The increase in sheer physical space will be used for a wider variety of programming, including adding music, gardening and educational opportunities.
It also will allow the county to expand behavioral and substance abuse services. For example, at the SRCCCY, the county will be able to double the number of therapists on staff.
By better serving kids, officials want to improve the relationship these kids have with the criminal justice system as a whole.
“I would never correlate one program to reducing crime in general, but our goal across the board of everything we do is to reduce recidivism,” said Pethke. “Our goal is that young people leave our care in a better place than when they came in and are able to thrive in their communities.
For Moore, changing kids’ lives in this way has been years in the making.
“Before I became an elected official, in my capacity working as a youth advocate through Urban Underground, we have been advocating for better, more inclusive treatment of young people in our youth legal system,” Moore said.
“But I want to be very clear … that other other factors also play a role. So, for example, schools play a role, families play a role. And community plays a role,” she said.
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