Winnebago County Juvenile Detention Center

Parents and siblings are allowed to correspond with minors via US Mail. Incoming phone calls to the minors in the facility are not allowed.

Phone calls:

Residents are given the opportunity for two free phone calls a week. The times during the day will vary based on detention’s Programming and staffing availability. Staff will make two attempts approximately one hour apart. The two days a week will be set soon after intake and the parents will be notified of those days set for the resident. It will be scheduled for 1 of 3 patterns. Monday and Thursday; Tuesday and Friday; Wednesday and Saturday. The days of the week are selected by the supervisors based on the most available grouping. This allows us to be able to get the most phone calls in for all residents during the week and on the days scheduled. The length of that call is based on the resident’s behavior and corresponding shirt levels.

• Green shirts are given 15-minute phone calls
• Red shirts are given 15-minute phone calls
• Blue shirts are given 20-minute phone calls
• Gold shirts are given 20-minute phone calls, plus a 30-minute Sunday phone call

The phone calls are for Parents/ legal guardians and family members in the home. Three-way calling is not allowed and strongly discouraged. Conversations about specific residents in detention are not allowed. Their privacy should be respected and valued, as is yours. It is our recommendation to keep these conversations positive and productive to promote a better transition to home, placement and /or corresponding court-appointed treatment or programs.

Paid Phone calls Procedure

Paid Pod phone calls can be made on Sunday evening.  The staff member assigned to the pod will ask if any residents would like to make a pod phone call. The Control booth operator will hand out cards of residents requesting the opportunity to make calls to the staff assigned to the pod.  The staff member assigned to the pod will ask for the Control booth to turn on the pod phone when the time is appropriate to make the phone call.  Residents will be informed they will only be able to call their parent/legal guardian.  The staff member will dial the phone for resident, state the resident’s name for the recording and verify the parent or legal guardian has answered the call.  The resident will then be handed the receiver for a 15-minute phone call.  If the call is dropped, the staff member will allow one more opportunity to start the process again. If a call is dropped a second time, there will not be a second attempt that day.  If the call is not answered by the parent/legal guardian, the resident will be allowed a second attempt, if time allows.  If the second attempt is not answered, the resident must wait until the following Sunday to try again.  Once the pod phone calls have been completed, the staff member will radio the Control booth to request the phone is shut off and will bring the white cards back to the booth operator.  The staff member must record the information regarding all call attempts and received calls on the phone log sheet. 

Information regarding how the parents/legal guardians set up an account through GTL/Viapath on the system is located in the Detention Center lobby near the front desk. 

A number of factors affect the length of time a minor will stay in the detention center. These factors include the severity of the crime with which the minor is charged; the speed at which necessary information is made available to the court; and the availability of suitable living arrangements for the minor when they are released

Three District 205 special education teachers and a para-professional instruct students throughout the year, including the summer months.

Arrangements can be made for a personal barber or beautician to come to the facility for haircuts. Any cost associated with this service is the responsibility of the parent or legal guardian.

The detention center has nursing staff on site between 8 – 10 a.m. as well as 8 – 10 p.m. daily. The nursing staff coordinates the distribution of all medication and how medical needs can best be addressed in the facility. Parents or Legal Guardians are financially responsible for providing all prescription medications as well as for any emergency or ongoing medical services which are deemed necessary by our medical provider.

All food and snack items are provided by the facility. Parents may donate snack food items to the facility with the understanding that it will be used as part of the points program (token economy) and that their child will have to use points to purchase the item(s) if they are available when it is their turn to spend points.

Due to both security and confidentiality issues, tours of the secure portions of the facility by individuals under the age of 21 are not allowed unless they are in a recognized College Degree program and a tour has been set up by their College. The Detention Superintendent will meet with young people and their parents to discuss what the facility is like and the programming which occurs in detention. Individuals interested in a meeting such as this should call the facility at (815) 516-2980 for more information.

Admission to the center is based on a variety of factors which have been translated into a screening instrument. Minors presented by the police for admission are evaluated based on a number of factors and only those meeting the established criteria are lodged in the facility.

The arresting agency has procedures as to when police reports are accessible to the public. Individuals requesting a copy of the police report need to contact the individual police department to determine their policy on the release of juvenile police reports. For an arrest by Winnebago County Sheriff's Office, call (815) 319-6100. For an arrest by the Rockford Police Department, call (815) 987-5902.

College students who are at least 21 years old and who must complete an internship as part of their college course work should call the Superintendent of the Detention Center at (815) 516-2980 to discuss their particular situation and obtain the application information. Interns serve in an unpaid capacity but may be offered paying positions at the completion of their internship depending on available job openings and their job performance during that time.