Lincoln, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – A high school that’s part of the new juvenile facility in Lincoln operated by the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ) has marked an important milestone.
The department says, according to a news release, that the Monarch Youth Center, which opened last September, says its first class of alternative high school students has graduated, receiving their diplomas in a ceremony Monday.
“I am proud of these young men for working toward a better future by earning their high school diplomas,” said Rob Vickery, IDJJ Director, in the news release. “The educators and staff of Monarch are doing a tremendous job of engaging and motivating the young people in our care.”
Officials referred to Monarch in 2025 as a sort of new approach to juvenile corrections, in that it has high school classrooms for courses in a variety of subjects, and it’s within an hour of the families of those housed there, unlike other juvenile correctional facilities that are closer to the Chicago area. Vickery says the state is shifting from large facilities to smaller “trauma-informed” facilities.
“Every eye is on you, and every person here is full of pride,” Bryce Reno-Gilson, Chief of Security, told the graduating class of three, according to the news release. “You did this. Let that take a second to sink in.”
Monarch Youth Center holds 30 juvenile boys — or, 40 percent of the state’s juvenile custodies — on land the former Lincoln Development Center was once on. It employs more than 90.
