What to know about youth prison construction in Milwaukee, including when demolition starts

Those who live and work near the site of a planned youth prison on Milwaukee's northwest side are likely to start hearing the sounds of demolition in the coming months.

The new prison is to be built at 7930 W. Clinton Ave., where a former vehicle emissions inspection center still stands.

The state Department of Corrections closed on the land sale in July, DOC Secretary Kevin Carr told the Granville Advisory Committee Wednesday.

The new facility is part of a plan to close the state's current youth prison, Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls. Located on a joint campus north of Wausau, the prison houses young people with the highest needs who have committed serious crimes or are repeat offenders.

Here's what to expect at the Milwaukee site in the next year:

When will demolition begin on the site of Milwaukee's new youth prison?

A bid for demolition of the existing building will be released in December, Carr said.

"The actual demolition, you'll see some machines actually doing some work there by the end of January, maybe early February," he said.

First, though, the building will require asbestos abatement, a process that will begin this month.

When will construction of Milwaukee's new youth prison likely begin?

Officials hope construction begins in June, Carr said.

"The state building process can be a little arduous and cumbersome, and so timelines could shift either way," he said.

The timeline for completion of the facility is on track for 2026, according to a state report from the federal court-appointed monitor for Lincoln Hills.

What will Milwaukee's new youth prison look like?

Carr said the new youth facility would look not like a prison but rather like a medical facility or a school.

"You won't be able to discern by looking at it that it is a correctional facility," he said.

What will security be like at Milwaukee's new youth prison?

The staff assigned to the facility will be correctional professionals who will also function as security, Carr said.

He said officials have not contemplated hiring people to work solely as security guards at the facility under the belief that there is not a need.

Because it is a secure facility, he said, no one would enter or leave of their own volition. There will also be cameras, lighting and a fence that will not look like a prison fence, he said.

"It's going to be a very secure environment, and we're fairly confident that we're going to be a good neighbor," he said. "We're not going to try to foster an occupational presence in the community because I don't think that the community wants us to be an occupying force."

Why is this Milwaukee prison being built?

Officials have sought for years to close Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake and replace the prison with new state- and county-run facilities closer to juveniles' families and support systems.

That effort has moved forward in fits and starts in the years since state lawmakers promised to close Lincoln Hills in response to dangerous conditions that had long persisted at the prison. The state has paid more than $25 million in settlement and legal fees.

The new state-run facilities, like the one on Milwaukee's north side, are to be responsible for the most serious juvenile offenders.

Are any other youth justice facilities under way in Milwaukee County?

Yes.

Milwaukee County plans to expand the Vel R. Phillips Youth and Family Justice Center in Wauwatosa to include 32 beds for youths.

County-run facilities to replace Lincoln Hills will be for youths who committed lower-level offenses.

Officials from the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services have submitted documents to the City of Wauwatosa and are waiting for feedback before going before the Common Council for approval, according to a DHHS spokesperson. The hope is the council will take up the plan yet this year.

Milwaukee County expects construction to be finished in late 2025.

What are conditions at Lincoln Hills like now?

The latest report from the federal court-appointed monitor for Lincoln Hills noted clean facilities, overall positive interactions between leadership, staff and youth, and a calm atmosphere during an Oct. 5 visit.

Still, Teresa Abreu, the facility's independent monitor, wrote in her report that youth raised concerns about the unfairness of the "behavior motivation system," saying that staff applied violations inconsistently and were quick to hand out "negative" points but not recognize positive behaviors.

Abreu's reports are part of a 2018 settlement between the state and Lincoln Hills residents represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin and Juvenile Law Center.

The report also noted a need to expand structured programming for youth.

"Youths’ major complaint to the Monitor was being bored. However, youth also informed the Monitor that they wanted more school time, wanted to go outside more, wanted staff to engage with them more, and did not like the behavior motivation system," the report states.

Staffing levels also improved slightly during the reporting period, though the teacher vacancy rate had increased from the last reporting period to 50% as of Oct. 1. Those educator vacancies are negatively impacting the youth, the report states.

Even so, the more than 20 staff who spoke to the monitor seemed to have a good overall morale, and video showed staff regularly engaging with the youth, according to the report.

DOC was also found to be in "substantial compliance" with 36 of the 50 provisions contained in a consent decree.

Alison Dirr can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: When demolition, construction starts on youth prison in Milwaukee