In 1996 the Division of Juvenile Corrections responded to a need for a more intensive program to work with juvenile offenders by creating the  Corrective Sanctions program. This program was designed to increase monitoring of delinquent youth  through electronic monitoring and  increased face to face contacts with Division staff.  The Type 2 status of the program means that a youth is in the same legal status as if  he or she were still in the Juvenile Correctional Institution.  This "institution without walls status" allows for the immediate transport or sanctioning back to the institution for violations and is a very effective incentive for youth.

Corrective Sanctions staff work 7 days a week and include holiday rotation so that youth can be seen every day of the calendar year if necessary. Milwaukee operates a report center (established in 1998) where youth report for school (accredited through MPS) or immediately after school for a program of study, treatment, community service and recreation. The report center is staffed 7 a.m. – 9:30 p.m., five days a week and on weekends from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Youth may be required to report on weekends for projects or disciplinary consequences.

While in the Corrective Sanctions program, youth progress through a four- tiered level system. As youth advance through each level, the amount of leisure time and flexibility increases and the number of face to face contacts with staff decreases.

Level 1  Youth meet daily with a Division staff member or representative. They are required to journal each day, have limited recreation time and an early curfew. If the youth is able-bodied and age appropriate, he/she should be gainfully employed prior to the advancement to the next level. Youth are required to submit a friends list that is approved by staff and a schedule that details their approved whereabouts and activities for each day that they are on the program. Lastly, they must register for school, and set up community service and any counseling that has been detailed in their case plan. Youth usually remain on Level 1 for 30 days and must petition to move to the next level. This petition is reviewed by CSP staff and Supervisor prior to granting the request.

Level 2  Youth are seen 5 to 6 times a week, still need to journal and do schedules and must complete half of their program mandated community service hours. They too, must petition for advancement to Level 3. Level 2 usually lasts a minimum of 45 days.

Level 3 Youth are seen 3 to 4 times a week and enjoy an easing of curfew and recreation time restrictions. These youth can petition for the electronic monitoring equipment to be taken off during this level, but usually this does not occur until Level 4. Level 3 usually lasts a minimum of 45 days and progression to the final level in the program must go through the same review of staff and Supervisor prior to being granted.

Level 4  Youth are in the transition stage of the program and the amount of freedom greatly increases. These youth are seen 1 to 2 times per week. Once the youth completes this level, he/she is removed from the CSP and place into aftercare (for state supervised youth) or transferred back to the county of origin (for counties that do their own aftercare).

As explained in the Type 2 definition, one of the advantages of placing youth in the CSP is the availability of  immediate consequence for violations. Staff are available to transport youth back to the JCI at any time and space is reserved so youth may be returned whenever necessary.

Youth may also go back to the institution on a "permanent return status". If youth are no longer compliant with the program, have new felony charges or are not benefiting from the CSP, they may be returned to the JCI to join the general population.

County staff is consulted whenever consideration is given to returning a youth to the JCI either temporarily or permanently.  All interested parties weigh in on the decision.

Family is part of the team. The Division believes that families must be involved in attempts to transition youth successfully back into the community.  The Division has adopted a "family friendly" approach to working with all Division clients including those in the Corrective Sanctions Program.

For youth in CSP this means mandatory weekly face to face visits between the family/parent/guardian and youth's Agent of record to determine the youth’s progress, address concerns and promote the feeling of the parent being part of the team.  This also means addressing family needs as well as youth's to make the home a better environment for all the family.  Some examples of Division assistance  include, but are not limited to: paying for phone line installation to ensure the use of the electronic monitoring equipment for families that cannot afford phone installation, paying for counseling for youth and families, conducting personalized job searches with youth and members of their family, assisting family members and youth in enrolling in continuing education and in some cases paying for tuition and/or books, paying for driving lessons to assist youth in attempting to secure their drivers’ license, obtaining furniture and household essentials for the family in cases where they are lacking items of need, purchasing interview clothing and haircuts for youth to increase the probability of their gaining employment and providing youth and families with cab fare slips in which they can use the area taxicabs for transportation to and from employment/counseling at no cost to them. Family response largely has been gratitude and an eagerness to accept the offered assistance.

Placement in the CSP can happen one of two ways and is open to all counties regardless of whether or not they purchase state aftercare services. First, referrals come from inside the JCI for youth that were committed to the JCI for longer term programming. Second, referrals can come in the form of a direct placement into the CSP. Direct placements are for youth that are being targeted for JCI placement, but who may not need the long term option of JCI care. Direct CSP placement is another method of trying to effectively manage a youth whose behavior is escalating beyond the controls and options available to the county staff. It calls for a 30-day Assessment and Evaluation at the JCI where they are housed in the reception cottage and is followed by an immediate return to the community into the parental/relative or foster home. Youth that may be exempted from placement in the CSP could include youth with long term AODA or Sex Offender needs and those with extreme mental health issues needing longer term care.

To begin a direct referral process, county staff should contact the OJOR representative at the coinciding JCI as well as the Field Supervisor for the county in which the youth resides. (The OJOR representative/contact person for each JCI is listed below). Once information has been received, the Field does a home study investigation, talks with the OJOR representative and the referring county staff to make a final determination. When the county goes to the court hearing to make a recommendation for Direct CSP placement, they will have been provided with a Field Home Assessment to present and will have the recommendation of the Division.

The preferred court language is as follows: "(Name of Youth) is committed to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, Division of Juvenile Corrections, for a period of (number) months until (dd/mm/yy) for placement in the Youth Corrective Sanctions program."  This commitment time should be at least 10 months to include the advancement through all 4 levels as well as a component of aftercare supervision. Youth placed in the CSP must be supervised by the Division of Juvenile Corrections upon release, but again, this option is open to all counties regardless of aftercare service provision

Corrective Sanctions is an economical alternative for the county. For CSP youth, the county is billed $87.00/day (FY 07/01/04 – 06/30/05) for every day a youth is on the program. At the end of the calendar year, the state looks at all youth that were on the program, figures a new daily rate based on number of youth served and rebates a portion of that back to the county. In the past couple of years, the actual daily rate for CSP has been around $25.00 per day. This rebate comes in the form of a check mailed directly to the county at the beginning of the calendar year.

The Division of Juvenile Corrections currently has a total of 143 youth being served by this program. There are 60 youth from the Northwest Region of the state and the remaining 83 youth are from the Racine and Milwaukee areas.

You may learn more about the Direct Referral process to the Corrective Sanctions program on the Department of Corrections website or by contacting one of the OJOR representatives below:

Southern Oaks Girls School: Michelle Glover (262) 878-5800

Ethan Allen Boys School: Lou Fusco (262) 646-3341

Lincoln Hills School: Nancy Fulk (715) 536-8386 Ext. 1192