CHICAGO — A new report released by a watchdog group said some youths felt “fear,” “hopelessness,” and “like dogs” when physical restraint was used at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center as the group called for the detention center and an alternative high school to be shut down.
Equip for Equality, a nonprofit and the federally appointed watchdog for people with disabilities in Illinois, released the 96-page report after spending 1,000 hours at the juvenile detention center and school interviewing students, staff and administrators from November 2021 to January of this year.
Equip for Equality Managing Attorney Rachel Shapiro told the Tribune on Friday the most “eye-opening thing” she learned when talking to youth at the detention center, was the use of physical restraint.
