Ethan Allen prison closing questioned

Waukesha Co. facility shut down in 2011

MADISON - Key lawmakers on Tuesday questioned the state’s 2011 decision to close a juvenile prison in Waukesha County and transfer its inmates to a Northwoods facility that is now under criminal investigation.

Republicans and Democrats on the Assembly Corrections Committee said juvenile inmates should be kept in southeastern Wisconsin because nearly twothirds of them come from there.

“Having these kids closer to home … is much more beneficial than being thrown up north,” said Rep. Jesse Kremer (R-Kewauskum). “I do agree this needs to be much closer to home.”

Rep. Joel Kleefisch (R-Oconomowoc) said he was “mystified” by the decision to close Ethan Allen School for Boys in Wales and move its inmates to Lincoln Hills School for Boys north of Wausau.

At Tuesday’s committee hearing, Kleefisch told Corrections

Secretary Jon Litscher he was troubled by the practice at Lincoln Hills of putting teen inmates in solitary confinement, sometimes for weeks, when they act up.

“I want to tell you today, hearing a child could be in restrictive housing or on their own for up to a week or two weeks gives me grave concerns,” Kleefisch said. “I have extreme concern in what is supposed to be a rehabilitating situation, a student or child being restrained by themselves for that long. I’m wondering to what end we can end that dynamic.”

About 17% of the facility’s inmates are held in restrictive housing at any given time, Litscher said. That would be the equivalent of 27 inmates, based on Lincoln Hills’ overall population of 157 as of Friday

In addition, 22 inmates as of Friday were held at

Copper Lake School for Girls, which is located on the same grounds.

The prison complex has been the subject of a criminal investigation for more than two years that centers on child abuse and neglect. The FBI has led the probe for the last year but has declined to say how much longer it might take.

In addition, the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin and the Juvenile Law Center filed a class-action lawsuit last month to try to curb the use of solitary confinement and pepper spray.

A review of Lincoln Hills by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel over the past year found prison officials trained staff improperly, failed to preserve video evidence, didn’t document serious incidents and often shirked their duty to report matters to parents, police and social service agencies. The problems emerged soon after Ethan Allen School was closed and the inmates were moved to Lincoln Hills, the newspaper found.

Litscher told the committee the problems at Lincoln Hills have been fixed in the year since he took over as secretary.

“I’m here to say to you first and foremost, Lincoln Hills/Copper Lake is a safe, secure place for the youth we are serving there,” Litscher told the committee. “There is no question in my mind that it is safe and secure.”

Lincoln Hills guards are now given more thorough training and are using it to more frequently de-escalate situations by talking to inmates, he said. More cameras have been installed around the prison complex and workers have been equipped with body cameras.

More psychological services are now offered and nurses — not guards — are now responsible for distributing medication.

Tuesday’s hearing was the latest sign that Republicans who control the Legislature are beginning to speak out about Lincoln Hills after largely remaining silent. Two weeks ago, Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine)

expressed frustration that lawmakers couldn’t get details on how long the criminal investigation would take, making it hard to know how to respond to problems at Lincoln Hills.

Democrats have long been critical of Lincoln Hills, with some of them arguing the state should hold inmates in regional facilities so they are closer to their families.

“I think we should close Lincoln Hills,” Rep. Evan Goyke (D-Milwaukee) said. “I don’t think it works.”

Republicans at the hearing did not go that far, but raised their share of criticisms.

“When something is in the middle of northern Wisconsin, it is more difficult to keep an eye on it for those who do the legislating in Madison and the (public) who live in southern Wisconsin,” Kleefisch said.

But reopening Ethan Allen School is not a ready option. Mold is so bad in some of the living units that they could not be inhabited, Litscher said.