Prospectus

On December 8, 2004, President Bush signed a $388 billion omnibus appropriations bill that included a grant of $1,190,400 for Illinois Collaboration on Youth/Youth Network Council’s Juvenile Justice / Mental Health Initiative (JJMHI). That stroke of the President’s pen represented the culmination of more than two years of dedicated work on the part of Illinois’ local youth agencies, in partnership with the Illinois Congressional Delegation. To implement the JJMHI, Illinois Collaboration on Youth/Youth Network Council will be working in partnership with twenty-two (22) local community agencies throughout Illinois to address the mental health needs of young people who are currently involved or who are at risk of becoming involved with the juvenile justice system. Governmental oversight for the JJMHI will be provided through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Background

Since 1982, the State of Illinois has supported a statewide system of community based youth services that provides an array of early interventions to young people who have been in contact with local law enforcement or the juvenile justice system. These services include, but are not limited to: crisis intervention, family reunification, case management, counseling, emergency shelter, cognitive-behavioral interventions, mentoring, and various community adjustment and community supervision alternatives to detention and incarceration. For each of the past twenty years, this system has diverted approximately twenty thousand (20,000) young people from further involvement with the criminal and juvenile justice systems. During this period, staff of provider agencies have been reporting that the needs of the youth they are serving have been more intensive. These reports were primarily informal and were offered through such venues as the ICOY Policy Forum, which brings together youth workers from around the state several times a year.

In 2002, the State of Illinois, through ICOY/YNC, began implementing a nationally validated, evidenced-based assessment instrument throughout its contract youth services provider agencies. The state recognizes the importance of identifying and responding to risk factors as a way of preventing juvenile delinquency. To date, assessment data have confirmed that approximately two-thirds of all youth served are either at moderate- or high-risk of re-offending. Significantly, approximately twenty-five percent (25%), of these higher-risk youth have been assessed as having mental health issues that are serious enough to require additional services. Significantly, the youth services providers were reporting that access to these services was not readily available.

Concurrent with the Illinois efforts to document need, the United States General Accounting Office (GAO), at the request of the U.S. Congress, was also examining what was believed to be a significant increase in the incidence of mental illness among youth placed in state child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Their report, released in April, 2003 (GAO-03-397), entitled Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice: Federal Agencies Could Play a Stronger Role in Helping States Reduce the Number of Children Placed Solely to Obtain Mental Health Services, revealed some interesting findings:

in the 19 states and 30 counties surveyed, parents placed over 12,700 children in the child welfare of juvenile justice so that these children could receive mental health services;
while accurate data on these children or their characteristics were not maintained, officials reported that most were male, adolescent, often have multiple problems, and many exhibit behaviors that threaten the safety of themselves and others;
limitations of both public and private health insurance, inadequate supplies of mental health services, limited availability of services through mental health agencies and schools, and difficulties meeting eligibility rules for services influence such placements;

The state officials surveyed for the report identified practices they believed would reduce the need for some child welfare or juvenile justice placements. These included reducing the cost or funding mental health services, improving access to services, and expanding the types of services. It also recommended that these approaches, if implemented, be rigorously evaluated.

According to a report released on July 7, 2004, at a Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs hearing, about 15,000 children with mental illnesses were improperly incarcerated in detention centers in 2003 because of a lack of access to treatment. For the report, the House Committee on Government Reform surveyed 524 juvenile detention centers nationwide in 2003 and found that 33 states detained children with mental illnesses who faced no criminal charges. The report, requested by the House and Senate committees, also found that 2,000 children with mental illnesses -- 7% of all children in detention centers -- remain incarcerated because of a lack of access to treatment. In addition, the report found that 117 detention centers incarcerated children with mental illnesses younger than age 11. This report also found that 66% of detention centers said they incarcerated children with mental illnesses “because there was no place else for them to go.” Some witnesses who testified at the hearing said that children with mental illnesses often are incarcerated in detention centers because their parents do not have access to treatment in schools or lack health coverage for such treatment.

In response to the needs identified by the Illinois provider groups and subsequent Congressional study, the Youth Network Council (YNC), through its programmatic division, the Illinois Collaboration on Youth (ICOY), has embarked upon a program to provide increased access to mental health services for young people currently involved in the juvenile justice system, who are at-risk of re-offending. This initiative will provide the resources to enable access to enhanced mental health services such, as psychiatric/psychological evaluation, to enable appropriate prescriptive care, which can then be case-managed by local youth service agencies. It is critical to address these mental health issues to enable these young people to fully participate in community-based interventions.

About the Program

The purpose of the Juvenile Justice / Mental Health Initiative (JJMHI) is to develop a multi-faceted, responsive, community-based recovery management system for 10-18 year old juvenile justice-involved youth, utilizing Illinois’ youth services system’s unique “safety net” of supports.

The results and benefits expected of this initiative are as follows:

Increased local capacity to serve juvenile justice-involved 10-18 year olds with mental health problems.
Higher utilization rates for existing community-based mental health services for the target population.
Increased multi-system collaboration among youth services providers, mental health providers, law enforcement, and the courts.
Client ownership of the recovery process through family, youth, and significant community stakeholders collaborating on the plan.
Increased use of evidence-based methodologies, as well as gender- and cultural-specific and cultural approaches.
Recognition within the State of Illinois of the youth services system as a competent delivery mechanism of mental health services, leading to sustained funding.
Increased service integration for targeted youth.

About the Organization

Youth Network Council is a capacity-building intermediary organization, which serves to enhance the capacity of those organizations and individuals that provide services, opportunities, and other means of support to young people and their families at the community level. YNC was incorporated as a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization in 1972.

From its inception in 1972, YNC has been supporting local youth serving organizations and enhancing their capacity through a multi-faceted program of training, technical assistance, information dissemination, public education, state, regional, national and international networking, service brokerage, policy development, legislative advocacy, and exposure to countless opportunities which are not otherwise available at the local level. The Illinois Collaboration on Youth (ICOY), was begun as a statewide program of the Youth Network Council in 1979. Its mission is to support and enhance the capacity of Illinois’ community-based youth services system.

At present, Youth Network Council is a programmatically diverse organization. Each of the organization’s programs is consistent with its mission of supporting local, community-based youth serving agencies and enhancing their capacity to serve young people and their families in their respective communities.

Program Locations

The project will be administered from the corporate headquarters of Youth Network Council and the Illinois Collaboration on Youth, which is located in Chicago’s Loop, or central business district. For centralized statewide accessibility, ICOY/YNC also has an office in Springfield, Illinois, the state capital.

Administrative Office
Youth Network Council
Illinois Collaboration on Youth
200 North Michigan Avenue *
Suite 400
Chicago, IL 60601
Tel: (312) 704-1257
Fax: (312) 704-1265

State Office:
321 ½ South Sixth Street *
Suite 200
Springfield, IL 62701
Tel: (217) 522-2663
Fax: (217) 522-2676

Service Organizations and Service Sites

Aunt Martha’s Youth Service Center
233 W. Joe Orr Rd., Chicago Heights, IL 60411 *
Phone: 708-754-1044
Fax: 708-747-3497
Service Sites:

Aurora Community Health Center
101 S. Broadway, Aurora, IL 60506
Phone: 630-896-7900
Fax: 630-896-7809

Kankakee Community Health Center
1777 E. Court St., Kankakee, IL 60901
Phone: 815-926-6222
Fax: 815-926-6225

Bridge Youth & Family Services
721 S. Quentin Rd., Palatine, IL 60067
Phone: 847-359-7490
Fax: 847-359-7525
Additional Service Site:

Rand Road Office
1585 N. Rand Rd., Palatine, IL 60074
Phone: 847-335-9749
Fax: 847-359-7525

Center for Children’s Services
702 Logan Ave., Danville, IL 61832
Phone: 217-446-1300
Fax: 217-446-1325

Children’s Home Association of Illinois
416 St. Marks Ct., Peoria, IL 61603
Phone: 309-687-7504
Fax: 309-687-7590

Children’s Home & Aid Society of Illinois
2133 Johnson Rd., Granite City, IL 62040
Phone: 618-452-8900
Fax: 618-452-9062

Chicago Youth Centers
104 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60603 *
Phone: 312-795-3500
Fax: 312-795-3520
Service Site:

Roseland Center
461 E. 111th St., Chicago, IL 60628
Phone: 773-468-4660
Fax: 773-468-4653

Delta Center
1400 Commercial Ave., Cairo, IL 62914
Phone: 618-734-2665
Fax: 618-734-1999

DuPage Youth Services Coalition, Inc.
130 W. Liberty, Suite 212, Wheaton, IL 60187 *
Phone: 630-653-6837
Fax: 630-682-3094
Additional Service Sites:

Center for Family Services
1720 N. Randall Rd., Aurora, IL 60506
Phone: 630-907-2900
Fax: 630-907-0197

NCO Youth and Family Services
1305 W. Oswego Road, Naperville, IL 60540
Phone: 630-961-2992
Fax: 630-961-7251

Outreach Community Ministries
122 W. Liberty Dr., Wheaton, IL 60184
Phone: 630-682-1910 x216
Fax: 630-682-3094

Quad Community Social Services
3 Friendship Plaza, Addison, IL 60101
Phone: 630-693-7934
Fax: 630-543-1069

Hanover / Schaumburg Township Youth Service Planning Board, Inc.
1 Illinois Blvd., Hoffman Estates, IL 60194 *
Phone: 847-884-6212
Fax: 847-884-6687

Spectrum Youth and Family Services
1 Illinois Blvd., Hoffman Estates, IL 60194
Phone: 847-884-6212
Fax: 847-884-6687

The Illinois Coalition for Community Services
510 Apple Orchard Rd. Suite 100, Springfield, IL 62703 *
Phone: 217-522-2378
Fax: 217-522-2698
Service Site:

Illinois Coalition for Community Services
825 18th St., Charleston IL 61920
Phone: 217-345-1221
Fax: 217-345-1227

Kids Hope United
1901 S. 4th Suite 212, Effingham, IL 62401
Phone: 217-347-5880
Fax: 217-347-5897

OMNI Youth Services
1111 Lake Cook Rd., Buffalo Grove, IL 60089
Phone: 847-353-1500
Fax: 847-541-0228
Additional Service Sites:

Arlington Heights Program Office
1616 N. Arlington Heights Rd., Arlington Heights, IL 60004
Phone: 847-253-6010
Fax: 847-253-7230

Wheeling Program Office
210 N. Wolf Rd., Wheeling IL 60090
Phone: 847-541-0199
Fax: 847-808-9772

Project Oz
1105 W. Front, Bloomington, IL 61701
Phone: 309-827-0377
Fax: 309-829-8877

Southern Illinois Regional Social Services
604 East College, Carbondale, IL 62901
Phone: 618-457-6703
Fax: 618-549-3734
Additional Service Sites:

Pinckneyville
312 W. Parker, Pinckneyville, IL 62274
Phone: 618-357-2513
Fax: 618-549-3734

The Success Center
3232 Ridge Rd, Lansing IL 60428
Phone: 708-474-7601
Fax: 708-474-7615

Transitions of Western Illinois
4409 Maine PO Box 3646, Quincy, IL 62301
Phone: 217-223-0413
Fax: 217-223-0461

Uhlich Children's Advantage Network (UCAN) & the West Association for Community Action (WACA)
UCAN - 3737 N. Mozart, Chicago, IL 60618 *
Phone: 773-588-0180
Fax: 773-588-7762

WACA - 3600 W. Ogden Ave., Chicago, IL 60623
Phone: 773-277-4400
Fax: 773-277-0270
Service Site:

4213 W. Cermack, Chicago, IL 60623
Phone: 773-277-4400
Fax: 773-277-0270

Universal Family Connection
1350 W. 103rd. St, Chicago, IL 60643
Phone: 773-881-1711
Fax: 773-881-3124

Youth Outreach Services
6417 W. Irving Park Rd., Chicago, IL 60634
Phone: 773-777-7112
Fax: 773-777-7611
Additional Sites:

Albany Park
4757 N. Kedzie Ave., Chicago, IL 60625
Phone: 773-539-7605
Fax: 773-539-3809

Austin
5901 W. Division, Chicago IL 60651
Phone: 773-379-3600
Fax: 773-379-7186

Cicero
6117 W. Cermack, Cicero, IL 60804
Phone: 708-652-5370
Fax: 708-652-5379

New City
5114 S. Elizabeth, Chicago, IL 60609
Phone: 773-446-6244
Fax: 773-446-6242

Proviso/ Leyden
4419 W. North Ave., Melrose Park IL 60160
Phone: 708-547-1091
Fax: 708-547-7732

Youth Organizations Umbrella, INC
1027 Sherman Ave, Evanston, IL 60202 *
Phone: 847-866-1201
Fax: 847-866-6806
Service Site:

Youth Organizations Umbrella - Chute
1430 South Blvd., Evanston IL 60202
Phone: 847-866-1201 x 321
Fax: 847-866-6806

Youth Service Bureau
2901 Normandy Rd., Springfield IL, 62703
Phone: 217-529-8300
Fax: 217-529-8314

Youth Service Bureau of Illinois Valley
424 W. Madison, Ottawa, IL 61350
Phone: 815-433-3953
Fax: 815-433-3980
Additional Sites:

LaSalle
12 Gunia Dr., LaSalle IL 61350
Phone: 815-223-4151
Fax: 815-223-4155

Princeton
1702 1/2 W. Pern St., Princeton IL 61356
Phone: 815-872-2119
Fax: 815-872-2099

*Indicates administrative office only. No services provided.