The Office of the Governor of the State of Wisconsin
01/28/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/28/2026 10:08
Gov. Evers, DOC Celebrate Completion of Successful Reforms at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools
Press Release: Gov. Evers, DOC Celebrate Completion of Successful Reforms at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools
State of Wisconsin sent this bulletin at 01/28/2026 05:00 AM CST| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 28, 2026 |
| Contact: [email protected] |
| Gov. Evers, DOC Celebrate Completion of Successful Reforms at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools |
| As a result of reaching full compliance with court-ordered requirements, the Department of Corrections is now asking the court to end the federal consent decree, marking another crucial step toward closing the two Wisconsin juvenile facilities |
|
MADISON - Gov. Tony Evers, together with Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) Secretary Jared Hoy, today celebrated the completion of successful reforms at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools, the state's juvenile corrections facilities. After child abuse scandals at the schools during the previous administration resulted in tens of millions of dollars in legal fees due to youth abuse and maltreatment, the state of Wisconsin was placed under court order requiring dozens of reforms at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools and regular visits by a court-approved monitor to review and assess DOC's progress toward complying with court-ordered requirements. Following the release of a successful report in October and a subsequent successful report issued today, the governor announced the Evers Administration has, once again, met all 50 requirements governing the operations of Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake schools, and as a result, the Department is asking the federal court to end the consent decree. This announcement marks another significant milestone in the Evers Administration's efforts to close the two juvenile corrections facilities and move youth to new facilities to receive treatment closer to their home communities. Efforts to close Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools, as well as other measures to resolve longstanding barriers to safety and security in Wisconsin's correctional institutions, were a key component of the governor's recent letter to the Wisconsin State Legislature, outlining his priorities for the remaining 11 months of 2026 and the current 2025-27 Legislative Session. Altogether, these efforts represent the governor's commitment to addressing these issues while in office to help reduce crime and keep kids, families, and communities safe. "This has been a goal a decade in the making, and it's tremendous to be able to celebrate the completion of reforms at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake schools today," said Gov. Evers. "This is a win for our state, a win for youth in our care, and a win for those who dedicate their time and energy to supporting the needed advancement of our justice system. "Ending the consent decree marks a step in the right direction, and it is a testament to those who got us to this point today, but our work is not done. Now, it is our responsibility as a state to prove that these reforms are here to stay, and that we're committed to seeing this through to the end by opening new state-of-the art facilities so we can move kids closer to home safely and close Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake as youth facilities once and for all-an effort I am hopeful members of the Legislature will join me on in 2026." "This accomplishment reflects years of deliberate and meaningful reform, including the elimination of OC spray, the removal of punitive room confinement, the reduction of restraint usage and confinement in general, the implementation of a robust behavior management system and programming, efforts to reduce idleness, and a strong emphasis on staff wellness," the court monitor wrote in their report. "These measures have produced a demonstrable improvement in the safety, climate, and culture of the facilities. Sustaining these reforms and maintaining a commitment to continuous improvement must remain a top priority." DOC's motion to end the decree was filed simultaneously with the monitor's report. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the plaintiff in a 2017 lawsuit over conditions at the schools under the previous administration that resulted in the consent decree, is not opposing the decree's end. "Moving beyond the consent decree is a key moment in Wisconsin's efforts to reform juvenile corrections," said DOC Secretary Jared Hoy. "Countless DOC employees have been working diligently since 2017 to make much-needed reforms to Wisconsin's juvenile facilities and toward a new model that prioritizes education, therapy, and strengthening family and community ties. This gets us one step closer toward closing Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake schools and placing youth into modern facilities closer to home." THE CHALLENGES AT LINCOLN HILLS AND COPPER LAKE SCHOOLS In 2015, under former Gov. Scott Walker's Administration, dozens of law enforcement officers raided Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools as part of a criminal probe into claims of abuse and unsafe working conditions that resulted in several lawsuits regarding child abuse and mistreatment. The raid was the culmination of a concerning pattern of reports and complaints over the course of several years. State and federal investigators at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools ultimately found frequent and excessive use of force on kids, excessive use of pepper spray, excessive confinement, failure to intervene in youth-on-youth fights, no investigations into sexual misconduct allegations, sexual abuse of youth, and physical abuse of youth that included broken bones and feet being slammed in doors. The Walker-era scandal ultimately resulted in the state spending more than $25 million in legal fees and settlement agreements resulting from abuse and maltreatment at the schools. Consequently, the state of Wisconsin was subject to court orders requiring DOC to implement 50 reforms at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools, including addressing staff shortages and staffing ratios, eliminating punitive solitary confinement, eliminating the use of pepper spray, limiting use of mechanical restraints, providing enhanced staff training and support, ensuring confined youth have consistent access to basic services and necessities, making and codifying several administrative rule changes, and improving incident review and response efforts, among other requirements. On a quarterly basis since then, a court-approved monitor with expertise in juvenile corrections has visited the facilities, interviewed youth and staff, and ensured compliance with the court-ordered requirements. When the Walker Administration ended in January 2019, the state was in substantial compliance with just one of the 50 court-ordered requirements. As of the last report filed by the court-approved monitor on Oct. 2, 2025, DOC and the Evers Administration have reached compliance with all 50 reforms. Reaching and maintaining full compliance with the court-approved consent decree is a significant and crucial step toward ultimately closing Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools, but much work nevertheless remains to be able to move all youth from the schools, close the facilities, and proceed as planned with converting the institutions to an adult corrections facility. NEW JUVENILE FACILITIES IN DEVELOPMENT The Southeast Regional Care Center for Youth, a new Type 1 secure juvenile correctional facility in Milwaukee, is expected to open this fall. At that time, the state will be able to begin moving some youth housed at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools closer to home safely and responsibly, bringing the state another step closer to using the facilities for adult corrections, which will help alleviate staffing and capacity challenges at other adult institutions. However, closing Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake and converting the schools to adult correctional institutions will require more juvenile Type 1 facilities to be online in addition to other programming designed to improve youth treatment, rehabilitation, and successful reentry. DOC is currently in the final planning stages for a second Type 1 facility to be built in Dane County on state-owned land in Fitchburg near Oakhill Correctional Institution. The 2025-2027 state budget includes $130.7 million for the new facility. In addition, the budget included $1.5 million in planning money for a proposed expansion of the nearby Grow Academy, a residential program offering comprehensive treatment for county and state-supervised youth as an alternative to incarceration. A timeline of Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools events, including the implementation of Act 185 and updates on Type 1 facilities projects, can be found here on the DOC website. A listing of all court-ordered monitor reports can be found here. ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND ON GOV. EVERS' AND EVERS ADMINISTRATION'S EFFORTS TO CLOSE LINCOLN HILLS AND COPPER LAKE SCHOOLS Gov. Evers, Secretary Hoy, and the Evers Administration have spent seven years working to close Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools to get kids closer to home safely and responsibly while operating under the 2017 Act 185 (Act 185) framework passed by the Republican-led Legislature and signed by then-Gov. Walker in 2018. In the wake of the raid and subsequent allegations, Act 185 called for Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake to be closed as a youth facility and to build new, smaller, regional facilities to replace the schools, ensuring youth can receive treatment closer to their homes and their family and community supports. Gov. Evers has long supported efforts to close Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools, including during his time as state superintendent, and has spent most of his tenure as governor working to reform the state's juvenile and adult justice systems. The governor has proposed measures to make sweeping changes to Wisconsin's corrections landscape in his 2019-21, 2021-23, 2023-25, and 2025-27 Executive and Capital Budgets, the vast majority of which were rejected by the Republican-controlled Legislature. In April 2022, Gov. Evers signed Senate Bill 520, now 2021 Wisconsin Act 252, which furthered the eventual closure of Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools after Act 185's enactment by authorizing up to $41.7 million in bonding for the purpose of constructing a new Type 1 juvenile facility in Milwaukee County. Additionally, the bipartisan 2025-27 state budget included $130.7 million to construct an additional Type 1 facility in Dane County but, unfortunately, did not approve funding for the northern Type 1 and approved only $1.5 million of the $3.1 million Gov. Evers requested to plan a Grow Academy expansion, which is also a critical piece of the plan to close Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake. Efforts to close Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake Schools, as well as other measures to resolve longstanding barriers to safety and security in Wisconsin's correctional institutions, were a key component of the governor's recent letter to the Wisconsin State Legislature, outlining his priorities for the remaining 11 months of 2026 and the current 2025-27 Legislative Session. More on Gov. Evers' 2026 Legislative Agenda is available here. |
| An online version of this release is available here. |
| ### |
| Office of the Governor • 115 East Capitol, Madison, WI 53702 | |
| Press Office Email: [email protected] | |
| Unsubscribe |
The Office of the Governor of the State of Wisconsin published this content on January 28, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on January 28, 2026 at 16:08 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]