Two state senators went inside a juvenile detention center at the center of a federal investigation. More than a dozen employees have been put on leave at Lincoln Hills School. There are allegations of child abuse, child neglect, and sexual assault, among other crimes.
The media is not allowed in Lincoln Hills School, but the lawmakers are. Those who went Thursday were happy with what they saw. But not everyone on the same trip felt that way.
Milwaukee State Senators Lena Taylor and Nikiya Harris Dodd took a bus with religious leaders and a parent to see the facility. Lincoln Hills School for boys in Irma, Wisconsin is 30 miles north of Wausau.
Taylor says she went to see what was happening in the facility and how Milwaukee organizations could help.
"We think we have been able to see what progress is being made to address some of the issues that are in place or the concerns or allegations that were there," Taylor says.
But a mother on the trip doesn't feel the same way. Her 15-year-old son in detention there. She says he has seen criminal activity at the facility and isn't sure he's always safe.
"I am calling on it to be shut down, I definitely am, I call up to the facility on a regular week just to check on my son's safety," says Yolanda Brown.
She is not alone in her calls to close down Lincoln Hills. Both a federal and state investigation is underway at the facility.
