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Transitional Center Inc. was developed out of an intense need for programming that combines transitioning and therapeutic programming for youth having mental and acute behavioral health challenges that have often manifested into unmanageable, destructive and highly inappropriate behaviors. As a result, youth are often expelled, inappropriately placed, or placed in programs that only meet part of the youth’s needs.  Research and statistics indicate that when youth experience these types of experiences eventually culminating a life of hopelessness, starting with drop out or falling through the cracks, and leading to a bleak future, a cycle of failure, homelessness and criminal behavior.  Transitional Center Inc. (TCI) started its operations in 1999 at St. Mary’s Hospital for adolescent males ranging in age from 12-19 years of age. 

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In order to provide academic programming, continuity of care and a streamlined process for providing services at the residential center, in 2007, planning for school operations began. In less than a year’s time, JTC Academy opened and was housed at the residential facility in the south wing of the building as an alternative educational placement for youth needing non-public special education services. JTC Academy serviced current residential youth but in a short period of time, the academy began receiving requests for placements by District 189 for non-residential special education youth. As JTC Academy began to accept non-residential students into the school program, the school program grew exponentially requiring a much larger off-site location to accommodate this increased population of youth. 

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The first off-site location for JTC Academy was the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center. The academy rented space and remained at this location for about 1 school year until renovations began at the center requiring JTC Academy to relocate. At this time, JTC Academy rented the Attucks School Building from District 189. After a couple years at Attucks, District 189 began placing some of their unused school buildings up for bid.  JTC Academy immediately embraced this opportunity, bid on and purchased the Brown School at 4850 Market St. in Cahokia Heights, Illinois, which became and is now JTC Academy West.  A few years later, JTC Academy acquired the Center for Children with Behavioral Disorders (CCBD) which is now JTC East. 

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Today, JTC Academy services several school districts within a 35-40-minute radius, including Missouri, of JTC Academy. Youth having IEPs from over 10 school districts in the area needing non-public special education programming are accepted annually into the program. JTC Academy accommodates all courses and curriculum required by the Illinois State Board of Education for all youth in grades K-12 while offering that important therapeutic component concurrently. As a result of moving off-site, the school program became disjointed from TCI and now operates as a separate, independent, not for profit, private entity through the Illinois State Board of Education. However, nearly half of all TCI youth attend JTC Academy due to the youth having an IEP requiring a private therapeutic day school.

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