NCJ Number
214003
Date Published
2006
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article reviews the historical roots of juvenile justice reforms in Illinois that began in the mid- to late 1990s, describes the Redeploy Illinois and Department of Juvenile Justice initiative, and discusses the promotion of systemic juvenile justice reform in other States and nationwide.
Abstract
Juvenile justice reform in Illinois in the late 1990s and early 2000s was begun by a group of juvenile justice advocacy organizations and agencies. Initial efforts began in Chicago and spread throughout the State. They included the expansion of community-based restorative justice programs and the monitoring and inspection of juvenile correctional facilities. A major statewide reform effort was launched in November 2004 when the Illinois legislature passed the Redeploy Illinois law. Under Redeploy Illinois, the State funds county community-based alternatives to incarceration if the community-based programs reduce the number of juvenile incarcerations by 15 percent. Counties must submit plans for diverting youth from the Illinois Department of Corrections and expand their local community-based treatment capacity. There are financial penalties for counties that do not meet the 25 percent incarceration-reduction goal. Three of the four pilot sites have exceeded their 25-percent reduction in the incarceration of juveniles. Another major reform effort was the creation in November 2005 of a new cabinet-level agency called the Department of Juvenile Justice. This department is responsible for stemming the trend that treats juveniles as adults in criminal justice processing by creating a new treatment-oriented culture for juvenile offenders. A broader juvenile justice reform initiative has been mounted by the MacArthur Foundation, which has announced that Illinois, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and Washington State will be the focus of a new "Models for Change" initiative that will provide models for how to achieve successful juvenile justice reform. 6 references