A prison watchdog group says Illinois Governor Pat Quinn is reneging on promises he made. Quinn is not allowing WBEZ to examine the state’s juvenile prisons.

Hanke Gratteau says the Department of Juvenile Justice has been making improvements over the last three years, but she says a lot of improvements are still needed. She’s the head of the John Howard Association. She says more public awareness of the juvenile prisons could give a boost to reform efforts. That’s why she’s disappointed that Quinn is keeping media out of the juvenile prisons.

GRATTEAU: As a former member of Governor Quinn’s Illinois Reform commission, I’m very dismayed that the administration is not fulfilling the promises they made about transparency in this administration.

Gratteau says juvenile prisons are paid for with taxpayer money so they ought to be transparent and open to public scrutiny.