SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice officials say they're aggressively seeking mental health professionals to fill posts at the Illinois Youth Center at Kewanee.

A report Thursday by the John Howard Association, a correctional-system watchdog, said mentally ill detainees at Kewanee should be removed until treatment services are adequate. It found only eight of 17 mental health posts filled at the facility the state has designated for severely mentally ill delinquent young people.

Juvenile Justice spokeswoman Jennifer Florent said in an email that the state's budget crisis has not impeded the agency. Kewanee is filling one mental health position next week and also will publicly post five social worker position openings.