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Compromise Sought on Juvenile Home

As the legal battle over whether Governor Terry Branstad had the authority to close the Iowa Juvenile Home in Toledo plays out in court, lawmakers are coming to agreement over what changes are needed to establish a place for the state's female juvenile delinquents.  A bill in the Iowa Senate provides for a state run facility for girls, much like the one in Eldora that serves boys.  But changes to state law are needed to ensure that girls will not again be held indefinitely in isolation cells, without access to education and services.  Host Clay Masters talks with Jerry Foxhoven who served as Chair of the Governor's Iowa Juvenile Home Protection Task Force, about the recommended actions to be taken to remedy problems found at the Toledo facility.  Senator Liz Mathis, a Cedar Rapids Democrat and Representative Dave Heaton, a Mount Pleasant Republican tell us a compromise is working its way through the legislature that would remedy problems and provide a place of "last resort" for girls judged to be delinquent.

Katherine Perkins is IPR's Program Director for News and Talk