Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission

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ILLINOIS JUVENILE JUSTICE COMMISSION

The Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission (the Commission) serves as the federally mandated State Advisory Group to the Governor, the General Assembly and the Illinois Department of Human Services. The Commission has 25 member positions appointed by the Governor. They have training, experience, and/or special knowledge concerning the prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency or the administration of justice. Members serve three-year terms and serve until such time as they have been reappointed or replaced.

The Commission develops, reviews and approves the State's juvenile justice plan for the expenditure of funds granted to Illinois by the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). The Commission is also responsible for ensuring the State's compliance with the Federal Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act.

The Commission has a statutory responsibility to submit an annual report to the Governor and General Assembly that highlights the State's accomplishments, its most urgent challenges relative to juvenile justice in Illinois and its recommendations for addressing those issues.

For more information on the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission or any of its programs, please contact them at:

Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission
535 W. Jefferson St., 3rd Floor - Springfield, IL 62702-5058

The current programs are:

Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI)

Illinois' programming in the area of detention alternatives has placed the state among the nation's leaders. Illinois' Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) supports local collaborations in their efforts to reduce the use of secure (locked) detention for delinquent youth who do not pose a serious risk to the community. Based on a model founded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, these collaborations typically include judges, state's attorneys, public defenders, probation departments, law enforcement, human service organizations, education agencies, and juvenile detention center staff. Local approaches commonly include the use of detention screening tools; expedited court case processing; day reporting centers; intensive case management; life skills training; community service; and employment preparation.

Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC)

African American youth and, to a lesser degree, Hispanic youth are over-represented in the Illinois juvenile justice System - that is, the proportion of these ethnic minorities who are arrested and/or confined in detention centers or jails exceeds their proportion in the general population. This situation is known as "disproportionate minority contact" with the juvenile justice system, or "DMC." Federal juvenile justice funding comes with a requirement that states demonstrate efforts to reduce the rate of DMC. Illinois has gained national recognition for its innovation in addressing this persistent and exceedingly complex issue, focusing its efforts in four pilot communities - St. Clair and Peoria counties, and the South Suburban and Lawndale community areas of Chicago. Working with the Burns Institute of San Francisco, Illinois has taken a data-driven approach to developing community-driven strategies for reducing DMC.

Transportation / Jail Removal

The Illinois Juvenile Court specifies that youth under the age of 17 who are accused of a criminal offense may not be held in an adult jail for longer than six hours. However, many of these young people do not have a way of getting to the youth detention facilities to which they have been assigned. Through Illinois' federal juvenile justice grant, the Division is able to provide grant funds to support the transportation of youth from county jails to juvenile detention centers, each grantee county serves a large, multi-county area.