The Broadening Redeploy Illinois

Diversion Goals through

Employment Act

THE GAP:
An Initiative to Redirect Our
Youth Toward a Brighter
Future!

*For Educational Use Only

Jim Mueller
Legislative Advocacy, Fall 2015

JUVENILE ARREST
PROBLEMS
In 2013, there were 38,956 juvenile arrests
across the state of Illinois
Due to a confluence of factors, including
poverty, abuse, and absent parents, many of
these young people have been overlooked by
society and have never been given a true
chance to succeed
With high recidivism rates for juvenile
offenders, they begin to develop a general
distrust for the judicial system

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SEALING THEIR FATE

A recent study on incarcerated students from

Chicago Public Schools found a strong correlation
between juvenile incarceration and adult
incarceration. Those who were incarcerated as
juveniles were:

41% more likely than others in their community to be incarcerated in an

adult correctional facility by the age of 25

39% less likely than others in their community to receive a high school
degree

Compared to juvenile offenders who were NOT incarcerated, juvenile

offenders who WERE incarcerated were significantly more likely to be
incarcerated in an adult correctional facility by age 25

In December 2014, 8.8% of those without a high school degree were

unemployed, compared to just 2.8% of those with a Bachelors degree.

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SCHOOL-TO-PRISON
PIPELINE

With the knowledge that incarcerating youths

significantly decreases their odds of earning a
high school degree, we must use alternative
measures that encourage intellectual growth

In these days, it is doubtful that any child

may reasonably be expected to succeed in life
if he is denied the opportunities of an
education. Such an opportunity, where the
state has undertaken to provide it, is a right . .
.

--Chief Justice Warren, Brown v. Board of

Education

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EFFECTS OF JUVENILE
DETENTION ON JUVENILES

Evidence suggests that up to 1/3 of detained

juveniles diagnosed with depression expressed no
depressive symptoms prior to detention, leading to
increased likelihood of suicide or other selfharming behaviors

Economist say that youth detentions reduce future

earnings and ability to remain in workforce

Racial Issues: While youth of color compose 1/3 of

youth population, they represent 61% of detained
youth population

Incarceration is the highest predictor of recidivism

Feelings of hopelessness and low self-worth

result from detention

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EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE
Redeploy Illinois (730 ILCS 110/16.1)
Provides community-based alternative to juvenile detention throughout Illinois by
providing treatment alternatives to juvenile incarceration

Pilot study states that program reduced Court Evaluation commitments by 87%; reduced
commitments to IDJJ by average of 51% within each participating community

Those who successfully completed the program had 27% less recidivism rate than those
who did not complete the program

61% who completed the program were not incarcerated within three years of completion,
compared to 34% who did not complete the program

The cost to serve each youth in the Redeploy program is around $6,000/yr, while the cost to
house a youth in IDJJ is over $110,000. BRIDGE will have an equivalent cost as Redeploy, so
the same savings will occur

Bottom Line: The Redeploy Illinois program proves that alternatives to juvenile detention
can be successful

*For Educational Use Only

WILL EXTEND REDEPLOY

INTO THE LABOR MARKET
The Broadening Redeploy Illinois Diversion Goals through Employment
(BRIDGE) program will require counties participating in the Redeploy program to
provide youth participants the opportunity to work intimately with the justice
system, a system many at-risk youths fear, as court runners, thus giving them a
positive interaction with the justice system
Redeploy Illinois provides great discretion to communities to determine
incarceration alternatives.
The BRIDGE program, which will amend 730 ILCS 110/16.1, will require
communities participating in the Redeploy program to provide juveniles the
opportunity to participate as court runners
BRIDGE participants will use their experience working for courts as a resume
booster that will afford them opportunities to pursue a college education or
professional career
*For Educational Use Only

BRIDGE SPECIFICS AND

ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY
BRIDGE will modify the current amendment authorizing a particular juvenile
diversion programRedeploy Illinoisby requiring adopting counties to offer
court runner positions to juvenile offenders as part of the existing alternative
holistic approach to juvenile offender reform set out in 730 ILCS 110/16.1
BRIDGE is aimed at juvenile offenders interested in getting their lives back on
track through a unique employment opportunity that will give them a fresh
perspective on the judicial system that will foster a positive view of the judicial
system for the youths
Runners will engage in an unpaid, 12-week program, with courts encouraged to
retain successful runners for pay in the future
By incorporating BRIDGE into the Redeploy program instead of making it a stand
alone program, BRIDGE will utilize an existing infrastructure and will thus be
cost-free

*For Educational Use Only

*For Educational Use Only

BRIDGING THE GAP: PUTTING

IT ON THE BOOKS

Amending 730 ILCS 110/16.1(b), proposed changes in bold: Each county or circuit participating in the
Redeploy Illinois program must create a local plan demonstrating how it will reduce the county or circuit's utilization
of secure confinement of juvenile offenders in the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice or county detention centers
by the creation or expansion of individualized services or programs that may include but are not limited to the
following, but must include (4):
(1) Assessment and evaluation services to provide the juvenile justice system with accurate individualized case
information on each juvenile offender including mental health, substance abuse, educational, and family
information;
(2) Direct services to individual juvenile offenders including educational, vocational, mental health, substance
abuse, supervision, and service coordination;
(3) Programs that seek to restore the offender to the community, such as victim offender panels, teen courts,
competency building, enhanced accountability measures, restitution, and community service. The local plan
must be directed in such a manner as to emphasize an individualized approach to providing services to juvenile
offenders in an integrated community based system including probation as the broker of services. The plan
must also detail the reduction in utilization of secure confinement. The local plan shall be limited to services
and shall not include costs for:
(i) capital expenditures;
(ii) renovations or remodeling;
(iii) personnel costs for probation; and
(4) The offering of court runner positions to qualifying juveniles, as determined by each
communitys oversight board, which will place said juveniles in court runner positions in a local
state court for a term of twelve (12) weeks; such work will be unpaid, but courts shall be
encouraged to employ for money any juveniles who complete the 12-week program and
demonstrate an aptitude for, and desire to continue, employment as a court runner.

POLICY CHAMPIONS
Timothy C. Evans, Chief Judge,
Circuit Court of Cook County

Wrote letter in support of Redeploy

Illinois

African-American

John Marshall Law School

Created unprecedented expansion

of Chief Judges duties relating to
juvenile detention program

Anita Alvarez, States

Attorney for Cook County,
Illinois
Chicago-Kent
Democrat
History of supporting juvenile
diversion programs, esp.
relating to minor drug
offenses

Patricia Van Pelt, Senator, 5th

District
Authored legislation that allowed
Cook County to participate in
Redeploy program
Ran for mayor in 2011 (well
connected)
Chief sponsor of HB 2404
(expanded juvenile court
jurisdiction to include 17-year-olds
charged with felonies)
*For Educational Use Only

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POLICY CHAMPIONS
Kelly M. Cassidy, House, 14th District
Filed Redeploy legislation with G.A. in
2013
Chair of Juvenile Justice and SystemInvolved Youth Committee
Only openly lesbian House member
(should relate to youth struggles that
can lead to juvenile crime

Robyn Gabel, House, 18th

District
Co-sponsored Redeploy bill in
House
Supports juvenile
expungement policies
Supports banning criminal
conviction requirement on
job applications (ties into
youth employment aspect of
R.A.C.E)

Kwame Raoul, Senator, 13th District

Chicago-Kent
Co-sponsored Redeploy in Senate
Joint Criminal Justice Reform
Committee assignment
Chief sponsor of bill severely
limiting juveniles being
automatically transferred to adult
court

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STAKEHOLDERS
Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Bureau of Youth Intervention Services
Each Illinois county
Each Illinois state court
Juvenile offenders
Each community at large

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FINAL MESSAGE: WE HAVE THE POWER

TO MAKE MORE PRODUCTIVE CITIZENS
I think its important for us as a society to remember
that the youth within juvenile justice systems are, most
of the time, youths who simply havent had the right
mentors and supporters around them because of
circumstances beyond their control.
--Qorianka Kilcher

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REFERENCES
Slide 2
Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, Juvenile Arrests (CHRI), 2014-May-19.
http://www.icjia.state.il.us/research/overview, search category: data; search term: juveniles.
Slide 3
Aizer, Anna, and Joseph J. Doyle, Jr. Juvenile Incarceration, Human Capital and Future Crime: Evidence from
Randonly-Assigned Judges. NBER Working Paper Series. National Bureau of Economic Research, June 2013.
Web.
Bureau of Labor Management. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t04.htm
Slide 4
Brown v. Bd. of Ed. of Topeka, Shawnee Cty., Kan., 347 U.S. 483, 493, 74 S. Ct. 686, 691, 98 L. Ed. 873 (1954)
supplemented sub nom. Brown v. Bd. of Educ. of Topeka, Kan., 349 U.S. 294, 75 S. Ct. 753, 99 L. Ed. 1083
(1955).
Slide 5
Kashani, J.H., Manning, G.W., McKnew D.H., Cytryn, L., Simonds, J.F. and Wooderson, P.C. (1980),
Depression Among Incarcerated Delinquents.
Psychiatry Resources Volume 3 185-191; Forrest, C.B., Tambor, E., Riley, A.W., Ensminger, M.E. and Starfield,
B. (2000),
The Health Profile of Incarcerated Male Youths." Pediatrics Vol. 105, No. 1 286-291.

Mace, D., Rohde, P., and Gnau, V. (1997), Psychological Patterns of Depression and Suicidal Behavior of
Adolescents in a Juvenile Detention Facility." Journal of Juvenile Justice and Detention Services Vol. 12 No. 1
18-23.
Sickmund,
*For
EducationalMelissa,
Use Only

Databook.
Slide 6

Sladky, T.J., and Kang, Wei (2004), Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement

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REFERENCES
Slide 6, cont.
"2010 Redeploy Illinois (RI) Fact Sheet." Illinois Department of Human Services. N.p., n.d. Web.
<http://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=32866>.
Slide 7
730 ILCS 110/16.1 (Redeploy Illinois Program).
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/documents/073001100K16.1.htm
Slide 8
730 ILCS 110/16.1 (Redeploy Illinois Program).
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/documents/073001100K16.1.htm
Slide 9
Id.
Slide 10
Honorable Timothy C. Evans Biography: http://www.cookcountycourt.org/JudgesPages/EvansTimothyC.aspx

Anita Alvarez, States Attorney, Biography: http://www.statesattorney.org/anitabio.html; Personal Website:

http://www.anitaalvarez.com/

Senator Patricia Van Pelt Biography: http://www.ilga.gov/senate/Senator.asp?MemberID=2035; Personal

Website: http://senatorvanpelt.com/
Slide 11
Representative Kelly M. Cassidy Biography: http://www.ilga.gov/house/rep.asp?MemberID=1803; Personal
Website: http://www.repcassidy.com/

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Representative Robyn Gabel Biography: http://www.ilga.gov/house/rep.asp?MemberID=1759; Personal

*For Educational Use Only

Website: www.robynforrep.com

REFERENCES
Slide 11, cont.
Senator Kwame Raoul Biography: http://www.ilga.gov/senate/Senator.asp?MemberID=1496; Personal
Website: www.kwameraoul.com
Slide 13
Hernandez, Lee. "Q'Orianka Kilcher, 'Firelight' Star, On Playing A Latina Juvenile Delinquent
(EXCLUSIVE)." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 23 Apr. 2012. Web.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/23/qorianka-kilcher-portrays-juveniledelinquent_n_1444358.html>.

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