RUSHVILLE, ILL. -- More jobs are on the way to West Central Illinois as the Department of Human Services Treatment and Detention Facility in Rushville will undergo a $13 million dollar expansion.
The TDF is the only facility in the state that houses sexually violent persons.
It was originally suppose to be a place where juveniles criminals served their sentences.
The facility was designed to house 482 individuals. It's population has grown to about 500 residents forcing the state to add an additional 96 beds.
"Of course the best way to address the overcrowding would be to do an expansion there in Rushville. And that is ultimately what the department has decided and that's what we're moving forward with," said Illinois State Senator John Sullivan, D-Rushville.
The people who are housed at the TDF have been convicted of a sex related crime and have served their sentence in the Illinois Department of Corrections. But through a DOC evaluation they've been diagnosed as being a danger to the community and likely to re-offend. So a law that was passed in 1998 allowed the state to commit these people to a facility until they're deemed safe to return to the community.
"We're seeing consistently about 40 to 50 a year It's more that once they come in, This is a very, a population that takes a great deal of time to treat and to be able to be released safely into the community. So a lot of people come in and very few people are conditionally discharged each year," according to Dr. Debra Ferguson, DHS Senior Deputy and Chief of Clinical Operations of Mental Health.
The construction will take place in two phases. The first is expected to be completed in August. The second phase is scheduled for completion in 2015.
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