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"Through the governor's re-entry initiatives, inmates and parolees
have more opportunities for successful crime- and drug-free re-entry
into society than ever before," said Roger E. Walker Jr., director
of the Department of Corrections. "Today's parole agent graduating
class supports that mission and will help improve public safety in
our communities." As part of Operation Spotlight's eight-week
training program, parole agents underwent a regimen of physical and
classroom instruction as well as firearms, case management and
computer training. The computer training provides them with the
technological mobility to be out in the community while monitoring
and supervising parolees, using a new computerized case management
and tracking system recently developed as part of the governor's
long-term Operation Spotlight Parole Reform Plan.
Parole agent class P4 began training June 19 and is the fourth
class to graduate under the new Operation Spotlight training
program. Each parole agent takes an oath of office and receives a
certificate of completion from the Department of Corrections. The
Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board certifies the
training. The new agents have been assigned to the following parole
offices to monitor and supervise parolees: District 1, Chicago
Heights Office -- one agent; District 2, Aurora Parole Office -- one
agent; District 2, Peoria Parole Office -- two agents; District 2,
Rockford Parole Office -- two agents; District 3, Champaign Parole
Office -- two agents; District 4, East St. Louis Parole Office --
one agent; District 4, Southwestern Parole Office -- four agents;
and District 5, Marion Parole Office -- two agents.
The 15 new agents bring the total number of agents to 460. All
35,000 parolees receive direct supervision in the community.
In his first State of the State address, Blagojevich announced
the launch of his four-year plan to transform parole. This plan aims
to reduce repeat crime among convicted felons on parole over the
long-term by improving three areas: increased parolee contacts, more
effective risk assessment and support, and improved cooperation with
local law enforcement, service providers and the community. The plan
is also designed to reduce parole agent caseloads and provide new
case management training, risk assessment and graduated sanction
tools that empower agents to effectively steer offenders away from
crime and drugs and toward honest work and productive citizenship.
Through this increase in parole agents, the governor also has
launched the most aggressive sex offender parole supervision program
in history. Specially trained agents are now supervising the state's
paroled sex offenders. In addition, the Department of Corrections
implemented a Global Positioning System pilot, which uses satellite
technology to track high-risk sex offender parolee movement. As part
of the parole monitoring efforts, the department also has increased
the number of parole compliance check operations throughout the
state.
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 "IDOC additionally has launched seven ‘Spotlight Reentry Centers'
in high-impact regions that serve as resource centers in providing
counseling, programs and services to support parolees' transition
into society," Walker said. "These centers also offer a highly
structured Day Reporting Program that offers an alternative sanction
for nonviolent parole violators."
The agency's parole efforts also support the governor's Sheridan
National Drug Prison and Reentry Program. Sheridan is moving
drug-involved offenders through an intensive drug treatment,
cognitive skills development, vocational and job preparation
program. The program begins in the prison setting and follows
through re-entry into communities under an extensive case management
program with heightened parole supervision.
"Nearly 69 percent of the state prison population is estimated to
have been incarcerated for a drug-involved crime," Walker said. "In
recognizing that drugs are a leading cause of recidivism, the
governor opened Sheridan in January 2004, which is designed to be
the largest fully dedicated state drug prison in the nation."
In a recent evaluation, the Sheridan program was reported to have
maintained a nearly 50 percent lower reincarceration rate than
comparison groups. In addition, a larger percentage of Sheridan
program participants are becoming employed and getting employed
sooner, compared with other parolees. More than 54 percent of
Sheridan parolees were verified to be currently working, and most of
them full time, while a 30 percent average of other parolees
self-report working at any given time during the year.
The governor's most recent re-entry initiative is to develop a
national model meth prison and re-entry program. The governor's meth
prison initiative includes creating two meth units, one at
Southwestern Illinois Correctional Center and one at Sheridan. This
year, the governor will create a 200-bed meth unit at the 667-bed
Southwestern Illinois Correctional Center and make the entire prison
another fully dedicated drug prison and re-entry program in the
model of Sheridan. Next year, the governor will expand the Sheridan
Correctional Center from 950 offenders to its full capacity of 1,300
offenders, with 200 of those spaces to be used for another meth
unit. As with the current Sheridan model, inmates in both programs
will have intensive prison-based drug treatment programs, vocational
training, job preparation and mental health services, and treatment
will continue under a highly supervised transition back to their
communities upon completion of their sentence.
[Illinois
Department of Corrections news release] |
