Redeploy Illinois program saves state
$40 million
New analysis of prison diversion
initiative shows 50 percent reduction in juvenile incarceration
rates
Send a link to a friend
[December 08, 2012]
CHICAGO -- The Redeploy Illinois
initiative of the Illinois Department of Human Services has saved
the state $40 million in incarceration costs by helping to steer
young people away from the prison system and onto the right path.
|
Redeploy Illinois was established in 2005 to provide financial support to
counties in their efforts to provide community services for delinquent youth as
an alternative to incarceration. Since then, the program has cut in half the
number of juveniles committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice, according
to the program's most recent annual report. At the start of Redeploy Illinois,
an average of 356 youth from the participating counties were incarcerated every
year. Over the past seven years, that number fell sharply to an average of 178
youth.
A total of 854 juveniles were incarcerated from participating counties since
Redeploy Illinois was implemented, which is more than a 50 percent decrease from
the estimated 1,713 youth who were previously on track for incarceration. This
50 percent reduction in youth commitment rates resulted in an estimated savings
to the state of $40 million in related incarceration costs.
"Redeploy Illinois' success is proof that community-based services for
juvenile offenders are not only the best tools we have to truly help
rehabilitate delinquent youth, but they are also more cost-effective," said IDHS
Secretary Michelle R.B. Saddler. "In diverting our young people from the path of
imprisonment, we save them -- and our state -- from the social, emotional and
financial costs of incarceration."
Redeploy Illinois supports a wide array of services to help delinquent youth,
including counseling, substance abuse and mental health treatment, life skills
education, and parent and family support services.
[to top of second column] |
The program began in 15 counties and was later expanded to 29
counties, including Macon, Peoria, St. Clair, Lee and McLean
counties. The report reflects the results achieved in 28 of the 29
participating counties. The outlying county, LaSalle, recently
joined the program and has not yet collected data.
The program has been successful in mobilizing communities to
direct resources to youth offenders who otherwise would have been
incarcerated. Counties receiving Redeploy Illinois funds commit to
reducing their number of commitments by 25 percent in exchange for
grant funds.
The full 2010-2011 Redeploy Illinois Annual Report can be viewed
at
http://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=61715.
[Text from
Illinois
Department of Human Services
file received from
the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information]
|