The Audy Home in Chicago is the common name for the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, a five-story facility at 1100 S. Hamilton Avenue that holds children awaiting court appearances. Built in 1973 and officially renamed decades ago, it is still called the Audy Home by residents and local media. In late 2025 it is at a turning point: hundreds of former detainees are suing over alleged sexual abuse, its longtime superintendent has resigned, and county officials are moving to shrink the building by 60 percent and shift most youth to community-based care.
What the Audy Home Is
Cook County’s system for detaining children traces back to 1899. The current building at 1100 S. Hamilton was completed in 1973 and was formally renamed the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, though the older name, taken from Arthur J. Audy, stuck.1Cook County Circuit Court. Juvenile Temporary Detention Program
Administration of the facility was transferred from the Cook County executive branch to the Office of the Chief Judge in 2007, after a federal class action, Jimmy Doe v. Cook County, exposed conditions the ACLU of Illinois described as “unsafe, unsanitary and woefully lacking in services.” The case ran under court-appointed transitional administration for years and was dismissed in May 2016 under a settlement agreement.2Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Doe v. Cook County Since 2015, day-to-day operations have been run by a superintendent selected by the Chief Judge.3ACLU of Illinois. Jimmy Doe v. Cook County
On any given day the JTDC now holds roughly 200 children in a building with a functional capacity of 382. Detaining one child there costs about $600 a day, and the annual budget exceeds $40 million.4Civic Federation. Impact of “Raise the Age” Legislation on Cook County’s Juvenile Temporary Detention Center The facility employs about 560 people.5Injustice Watch. Cook County Juvenile Detention Center Downsize Plans
The 2024 Sexual Abuse Lawsuits
In 2024, nearly 400 former detainees filed civil claims alleging sexual abuse at the Audy Home. The law firms Bailey & Glasser and Levy Konigsberg brought suits in the Circuit Court of Cook County on May 6, June 3, and July 22, 2024, with 193 plaintiffs named in the July filing alone. Plaintiffs were between 9 and 17 at the time of the alleged abuse and were housed at the JTDC between 1995 and 2022.6Bailey & Glasser. BG Files New Lawsuits on Behalf of 193 Juvenile Sexual Abuse Survivors in Illinois
The complaints name Cook County and the state of Illinois as defendants. They allege that “systematic and unconstitutional strip searches” created the conditions for abuse by correctional officers, counselors, supervisors, teachers, and medical staff, and that a “culture of secrecy” protected employees who preyed on children.7Capitol News Illinois. Nearly 200 People Allege Decades of Systematic Abuse at Youth Jail in Chicago The suits were brought under the Illinois Childhood Sexual Abuse Act, 735 ILCS 5/13-202.2, which has been amended to extend the time survivors have to file civil claims.6Bailey & Glasser. BG Files New Lawsuits on Behalf of 193 Juvenile Sexual Abuse Survivors in Illinois The July 2024 filing carries case number 2024L008080.8Courthouse News Service. Illinois Juvenile Sexual Abuse Complaint No settlement amounts or verdicts have been publicly reported.
Recent Watchdog Findings
The lawsuits arrived after years of critical outside reviews. In May 2022, a Blue Ribbon Committee convened by Chief Judge Timothy Evans and chaired by Eugene Griffin called the JTDC “isolating and deprivational,” found that youth were often confined to their rooms for 13 hours a day, and recommended replacing the physical building with smaller, community-based facilities.9Chicago Sun-Times. Chief Judge Evans Must Take Action to Improve Cook County Juvenile Jail
A state inspection that same month found the facility conducting blanket strip searches at intake and using fixed-period room confinement as punishment. Between July 2021 and April 2022, 1,489 confinement sanctions were imposed; 1,351 lasted more than four hours and 240 lasted 24 hours or more.10Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice. Cook County JTDC Inspection Report
In March 2023, the disability rights group Equip for Equality published a 96-page report based on more than 1,000 hours of on-site observation. Investigators documented prone and supine restraints used as punishment, an unsanctioned practice called “sitting on the wall” that required youth to sit silently in a chair for hours (in some cases for as long as 15 days), and pervasive failures in special education services at the on-site Nancy B. Jefferson Alternative High School. Equip for Equality recommended closing the JTDC entirely.11Block Club Chicago. Teens at Cook County Juvenile Jail Face Excessive Force, Extreme Isolation and Other Civil Rights Abuses, Watchdog Finds12Equip for Equality. Youth in Crisis
Superintendent Leonard Dixon rejected the report as “an exercise in sensationalism” and “gross misrepresentations.” Chicago Public Schools officials disputed the education findings. Chief Judge Evans ordered additional training for the rapid-response team and requested a use-of-force report.11Block Club Chicago. Teens at Cook County Juvenile Jail Face Excessive Force, Extreme Isolation and Other Civil Rights Abuses, Watchdog Finds
A July 2024 state inspection recorded improvement. The facility was found compliant with all county detention standards. Average behaviorally driven room confinement had dropped from over eight hours in January 2023 to under two hours by early 2024 after a new policy banning fixed-period confinement. Millimeter-wave body scanners introduced in late 2023 sharply reduced strip searches, with only 37 recorded in the first seven months of 2024. Inspectors did recommend that the facility complete a formal Prison Rape Elimination Act audit.13Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice. Cook County JTDC Inspection Report
Criminal Charges Against Staff
Criminal prosecution of Audy Home employees for harming detained children has been rare. In June 2024, former rapid-response team specialist Kevin Walker was charged with aggravated battery and official misconduct over a December 2023 incident in which he allegedly threw a handcuffed 15-year-old boy to the floor, leaving him unconscious with a mild traumatic brain injury. It was the first time in more than a decade a JTDC employee had faced criminal charges for harming a child there. Walker had been hired in 1996 and had been accused of harming children in at least five prior incidents going back to 2007; those earlier complaints were marked “unfounded” or “unsustained.”14Injustice Watch. Rare Criminal Trial of Former JTDC Employee Expected to Start
Walker’s bench trial ended on October 31, 2025, with Cook County Circuit Judge Kenneth J. Wadas finding him not guilty. The judge said prosecutors failed to meet their burden of proof: “The defendant puts his hand on [the boy] and maybe pushes him at best. There is no picking up and throwing down.” Walker had already been terminated after an internal investigation found he violated the facility’s use-of-force policy.15Injustice Watch. Cook County Juvenile Jail Guard Trial: Not Guilty
The Superintendent’s Departure
Leonard Dixon, 69, had led the JTDC since 2015. He previously ran juvenile detention facilities in Detroit and Miami-Dade County and served as a federal monitor for a juvenile facility in Jackson, Mississippi. The 2022 Blue Ribbon Committee had recommended that Chief Judge Evans replace him, and a JTDC Advisory Board report in 2019 had already criticized rising punitive room confinement under his leadership.16Injustice Watch. Cook County Juvenile Detention Center Superintendent Residency
A September 2025 Injustice Watch investigation raised questions about whether Dixon met his contract’s requirement to live in Cook County. Records showed he had been registered to vote in Michigan since 1995, cast absentee ballots there as recently as 2024, and claimed a homeowner’s principal residence tax exemption on a property in Woodhaven, Michigan, saving over $13,000 in taxes since 2015. An outside law firm hired by Chief Judge Evans concluded that Dixon “resides in Illinois,” though the methodology behind that finding was not publicly detailed.17Chicago Sun-Times. Cook County Youth Jail Chief’s Primary Residence May Be in Michigan Dixon submitted his resignation on November 12, 2025, effective December 1, 2025.18Center for Health Journalism. Leonard Dixon Stepping Down as Head of Cook County Juvenile Detention Center
Plans to Shrink the Facility
Chief Judge Evans and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle have proposed cutting the JTDC’s footprint by 60 percent and converting the remaining interior into dormitory-style housing for fewer than 50 youth who require secure detention. The plan pairs that reduction with community-based “centers of care” and assessment centers as alternatives to traditional detention. In February 2026, the circuit court received a $450,000 federal grant to develop the centers, and the Cook County Board approved an $836,862 contract with the policy institute Chapin Hall for research and oversight.5Injustice Watch. Cook County Juvenile Detention Center Downsize Plans
Staff unions have raised concerns about privatization, though officials say all new facilities will be publicly administered.5Injustice Watch. Cook County Juvenile Detention Center Downsize Plans Illinois is also gradually raising the minimum age for juvenile detention, from 10 to 12 in July 2026 and to 13 in July 2027, under Public Act 104-0449, which also establishes a Child First Reform Task Force to propose community-based alternatives.19Juvenile Justice Initiative. JJI Issues The average daily population of Illinois state juvenile prisons dropped 92 percent between 1999 and 2023, from 2,174 to 171, giving the downsizing plan a broader statewide backdrop.20Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission. Youth Legal System Whether the Audy Home will finally be replaced, after more than half a century of lawsuits, investigations, and reform promises, is now in the hands of the officials picking Dixon’s successor and executing the transition.