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Act 185

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New Model for Juvenile Corrections
DOC and Governor Evers will continue working to implement all components of Act 185, including building new Type 1 facilities and closing LHS/CLS. When Act 185 passed, it envisioned three Type 1 facilities and a number of smaller, county-run SRCCCYS. The Wisconsin Model laid out in Act 185 embraced a regionalized approach and keeping youth close to home. LHS/CLS is geographically isolated, making it extremely difficult for youth there to maintain relationships with their community and families back home.

Evidence and best practices say maintaining those relationships is a key component to reducing recidivism and keeping youth from entering the adult criminal justice system. To accomplish these goals, DOC envisions the following:

Build Three Smaller Facilities Using Regionalized Approach to Keep Youth Close to Home
Southeast Regional Care Center for Youth
Delayed by legislative approval, DOC's plan for a new Type 1 facility in Milwaukee, called the Southeast Regional Care Center for Youth, is a year or two behind the counties and their SRCCCYs plans. DOC finally received funding in 2022 to move forward with a new state-run juvenile correctional facility. Land was approved on West Clinton Avenue, and design is now finalized. Work began on the facility in the summer of 2024, with a project completion date in 2026.This 32-bed facility embraces the regional model, given that most of the youth in our care come to DOC from Milwaukee County.

Type 1 Facility in Dane County

Using DOC land near the Grow Academy, Oregon Correctional Center, and Bureau of Correctional Enterprises Farm Campus, DOC strives to build another, smaller secure facility. DOC envisions a facility similar in size and design to that of the Milwaukee County facility, approximately doubling the number of beds statewide for youth and providing needed Type 1 beds for female youth. The location in Dane County would allow DOC to continue with a regional approach reflective of DOC's youth population. Milwaukee and the south-central region have the highest number of youth in DOC custody. A location in Dane County will allow youth to stay closer to home during their commitment.

Early guidance after passage of Act 185, per the selection committee, included a focus on land already owned by the State of Wisconsin, as well as proximity to families and community resources. Maintaining connections with family has been shown to have an impact on recidivism. Other considerations include a nearby workforce, transportation accessibility, and local community resources.

DOC is completing the final planning stages for design of this facility, and the approved 2025-27 budget allocated funds to further this vision and meet our completion goal date of 2029.


Type 1 Facility in Northern Wisconsin
Type 1 facilities in Milwaukee and Dane County may not hold enough beds to close Lincoln Hills/Copper Lake schools, therefore DOC would like to explore the possibility of a third facility. Additionally, building a third Type 1 in northern Wisconsin will allow the DOC to realize the intent of Act 185 and keeping kids closer to home, since not all youth are from the southern part of the state. While an exact location is unclear, DOC envisions this third facility in the northern portion of the state. Any new Type 1 facility built in northern Wisconsin would be similar in size to the one being planned for Milwaukee. Planning dollars were requested in the 2025-27 budget to further planning, design and site assessment for a northern facility, but the funds were not approved by JCF.


Expand the Grow Academy

The Grow Academy is a residential program offering comprehensive treatment for County and State-supervised youth as an alternative to incarceration as well as a step down for youth returning to the community. The Grow Academy offers an agriculture-based educational curriculum, cognitive development programming, career exploration, case management services including individual and family counseling services, tele-psychiatry and other identified treatment needs, as well as engagement in community partnerships to strengthen the youth's transition back to the community. Over the past 10 years Wisconsin has lost over 300 residential care beds so there is a great need for additional non-secure residential beds.

DOC envisions expanding the Grow Academy from a 6-bed facility to a 16-bed facility, allowing the agency to offer the Academy's evidence-based programming to more youth. Full funding was requested in the 2025-27 budget. The JCF did not approve full enumeration and instead authorized $1.5 million in planning money.

Implement Evidence-Based Youth Best Practices
Each facility will reflect national best practices in juvenile facility design, and support DOC's mission of providing the youth in our care the opportunity for positive change through education and treatment. Over the past several years, our administration has worked to move away from a punitive correctional model into an evidence-based youth practices at our youth facilities.


Act 185 History
2017 Wisconsin Act 185 ("Act 185") became law on March 31, 2018, and restructured Wisconsin's youth correctional system, impacting both state and county systems, including how and where they can incarcerate youth who are adjudicated delinquent. There are several major provisions that mandate action in Act 185.

High-Level Summary of Key Components of the Law
  • Provided authority to the DOC to seek approval from the Joint Committee on Finance (JCF) to build new, secure youth facilities (known as a Type 1 facility) that would be operated by the DOC, and house youth convicted and sentenced under the Serious Juvenile Offender (SJO) disposition and those convicted as adults.
  • Funded and operationalized Secure Residential Care Centers for Children and Youth (SRCCCYs). It provided the authority for counties to build and operate a SRCCCY for youth who are found delinquent of an act that would be punishable by a sentence of six months or more if committed by an adult, and that youth are found to be a danger to the public and in need of restrictive custodial treatment.
  • Authorized the DOC to develop administrative rules to provide oversight similar to county jail facilities for SRCCCYs.
  • Provided the authority to the Department Health Services (DHS) to seek funding approval by the JCF to expand their current secure youth facility to also treat girls. Mendota Juvenile Treatment Center (MJTC) is a secure mental health treatment facility that treats boys who have been clinically diagnosed as appropriate for intensive mental health care and who have not responded to services and treatment at Lincoln Hills School.

Funding Appropriated for Wisconsin's Youth Correctional System Under Act 185
The original bill provided funding to cover some of the costs of new construction. The original language in 2017 Act 185 authorized DOC and DHS to seek approval from JCF to fund:
  • $25 million for new DOC Type 1 facilities
  • $15 million for MJTC expansion
  • $40 million for a new grant program for counties to build new SRCCCY facilities

Bipartisan Committees to Develop Proposals Regarding Youth Justice in Wisconsin
Act 185 created two bipartisan committees to develop recommendations for consideration to DOC and JCF. Once the committees completed their work, their statutory authority was ended and the committees were disbanded. Below is a summary of their key responsibilities and links to their meeting details:

Juvenile Corrections Study Committee (JCSC)
  • Recommended to DOC administrative rules related to programming and services for SRCCCYs
  • Recommended possible locations to DOC for new Type 1 facilities
Juvenile Corrections Grant Committee (JCGC)
  • Recommended to JCF the Statewide Plan for grants to counties to build the new SRCCCYs
  • Recommended to JCF funding awards to counties to build the new SRCCCYs​
Actions Taken
History of​ Act 185 Action Steps
Since the passage of Act 185 in 2018, additional pieces of legislation have impacted the available funding to build new Type 1 facilities and the process for implementing Act 185. Below is a chronological summary of action taken by the Legislature that impacts Act 185, and more specifically, the ability for the DOC to comply with the requirements to close LHS/CLS set forth in the law.

  1. 2017 Act 185 appropriated funding to the DOC, DHS, and awarded counties. State agencies are required to seek approval from JCF before they can do anything with those funds.
    $25 million was specifically appropriated for new Type 1 facilities with the acknowledgment that this funding would fall short and action would need to be taken in the next legislative session.

  2. During the 2019-21 budget process, the governor proposed an additional $90 million (+ the $25 million in Act 185 for a total of $115 million) in funding for the construction of two new Type 1 facilities.

  3. In the 2019-21 budget, the Legislature removed all funding (including the original $25 million in funding approved in Act 185) for any Type 1 facilities. The governor vetoed this removal, and the funding remained in the enacted budget.

  4. In October 2019, DOC, DHS, and DCF submitted a request to JCF, as required by Act 185. DOC submitted a proposal to seek approval of two new Type 1 facilities in Milwaukee and Hortonia.
    DHS submitted its proposal for approval for the MJTC expansion. Both DOC and DCF submitted the recommendations from the bipartisan Juvenile Corrections Grant Committee for funding four new SRCCCYs in Dane, Brown, Milwaukee, and Racine counties.

  5. On February 12, 2020, JCF declined to fund any new Type 1s or the MJTC expansion (MJTC expansion funds were later approved by JCF on May 5, 2021). As a result of the decision, DOC was forced to halt any further planning for the construction of new Type 1s.
    JCF did vote to fund the proposed four SRCCCY sites to be built in Dane, Brown, Racine and Milwaukee counties. Their amended approval increased the grant award for counties to $110.96 million combined. While approving other counties' full requests, JCF reduced Milwaukee County's proposed funding by $8.4 million.

  6. In his 2021-23 budget, the governor proposed $46 million to fund one new Type 1 Facility in Milwaukee County.

  7. In the final 2021-23 budget, the funding for a new Type 1 facility was reduced to $4 million dollars for design and site acquisition.
    The State Building Commission, in February 2022, released $2.4 million to continue work on project development, site selection and assessment, and design of a new Type 1 in Milwaukee County.

  8. Signed in early April 2022, 2021 Act 252 appropriated an additional $41 million in funding for a new Type 1 in Milwaukee County.
    For a summarized overview of the history of Act 185, please view this History of Act 185 presentation.

  9. 2023 Capital Budget Proposals and Legislative Actions
    Governor Evers continued to request the funding necessary to implement all components of Act 185, including funding to build new Type 1 facilities and expand capacity at current sites. The Legislature approved the requested additional $32.6 million to allow construction to begin on the Southeast Regional Care Center for Youth in Milwaukee, as well as $6 million in planning funds to begin work on a second Type 1 facility in Dane County. The Legislature, however, did not provide the full $83 million requested to begin construction on the Dane County Type 1 nor $4 million in planning funds for a third Type 1 facility to be located in Northeastern Wisconsin. A nearly $25 million request to expand the Grow Academy was also declined. It is important to note the ability for the DOC to comply with the requirements to close LHS/CLS set forth in the law is dependent on receiving the necessary funding.

  10. The governor's 2025-27 budget proposals and legislative actions.
    The governor’s proposal included $130.7 million to construct a Dane County Type 1 facility; $6.6 million for exploration of a third Type 1 facility in northern Wisconsin; and $31.1 million to expand the Grow Academy in Oregon. Below is a summary of what was requested by the governor, followed by what was approved by the legislature.
Dane County Type 1 Facility
Funding Request: $130.7 million
2025 Wisconsin Act 15 Funding Approved: $130.7 million

Proposed Location: Dane County, using DOC land that lies within Fitchburg and Oregon, Wisconsin near the Grow Academy, Oregon Correctional Center, and Bureau of Correctional Enterprises Farm Campus.
Act 185 envisioned multiple, smaller Type 1 youth correctional facilities operated by Wisconsin DOC, coupled with county-run SRCCCYs to keep youth closer to home and family/community support systems. It also envisioned using state-owned land where possible for new Type 1 youth facilities and choosing locations in geographic locations reflective of the DOC s youth population. With Milwaukee and Dane counties having the highest number of youth in custody, a second location in Dane County will allow DOC to keep youth close to home and connect them to resources in their communities prior to their release.

Grow Academy Expansion
Funding Request: $31.1 million
2025 Wisconsin Act 15 Funding Approved: $1.5 million for planning

Proposed Location: Oregon, Wisconsin
​The Grow Academy is a residential program offering comprehensive treatment for County and State-supervised youth as an alternative to incarceration, as well as a step down for youth returning to the community. Completed funding would have allowed DOC to expand the Grow Academy, from a 6-bed facility to a 16-bed facility. The approved funding only allows DOC to develop plans and specifications for the 16-bed facility.

Northern Type 1 Facility
Funding Request: $6 million for planning
Funding Approved: $0

​​​The DOC envisions the northern Wisconsin Type 1 to be similar in size to the Milwaukee facility. Planning funds were requested in the 2025-27 budget, but they were not approved.​