Juvenile Justice Initiative
518 Davis, Suite 211
Evanston, IL 60201
Phone: 847-864-1567
Fax: 847-570-0749
Web: www.jjustice.org
Betsy Clarke
Email: bcjuv@aol.com
Organization Profile
The Juvenile Justice Initiative (JJI) is a non-profit, non-partisan, inclusive, statewide coalition of state and local organizations, advocacy groups, legal educators, practitioners, community service providers, and child advocates supported by private donations from foundations and individuals/entities.
JJI’s mission is to transform the juvenile justice system in Illinoisby reducing reliance on confinement, enhancing fairness for all youth, and developing an adequate range of community-based resources.
JJI as a coalition establishes/joins broad-based collaborations developed around specific initiatives to achieve concrete improvements and lasting changes for youth in the justice system. JJI’s goal is to develop a statewide initiative to decrease incarceration rates and increase prevention services for youth in Illinois.
Found 54 matches.
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The Comeback States: Reducing Juvenile Incarceration in the United States - NJJN, TPPF
Tags: California | Connecticut | Illinois | Missouri | New York | Ohio | Texas | Washington | Wisconsin | National | Deinstitutionalization | NJJN Publications
Nine "comeback states" are featured for their dramatic reversal of youth incarceration rates in the past decade and for adopting policies that will promote further reductions.
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Raising the Age of Juvenile Court Jurisdiction: the Future of 17-year-olds in Illinois' Justice System
Tags: Illinois | Fiscal Issues and Funding | General System Reform | Youth in the Adult System
In this report, the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission documents how Illinois ended the automatic prosecution of all 17-year-olds charged with misdemeanors, improving public safety and decreasing long-term costs. The Commission recommends doing the same with 17-year-olds charged with felonies.
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OJJDP Juvenile Justice Bulletin - The Northwestern Juvenile Project: Overview
Tags: Federal | Illinois | Aftercare/Reentry | Mental Health and Substance Abuse | Research
This bulletin reviews the Northwestern Juvenile Project, the first large-scale, prospective longitudinal study of drug, alcohol, and psychiatric disorders in a diverse sample of juvenile detainees from Cook County, IL.
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Shifting Away From Incarceration: Fiscal Realignment Strategies to End the Mass Incarceration of Youth in the United States
Tags: Illinois | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Fiscal Issues and Funding | Presentations | Member Publications
An overview of realignment trends in the U.S. that are reducing the number of youth who are incarcerated. Special focus on Redeploy Illinois, as well as the Pathways to Desistance research showing better outcomes for youth kept in their homes.
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Your Guide to the Juvenile Justice System in Illinois
Tags: Illinois | Family and Youth Involvement | Juvenile Defense and Court Process | Partner Publications
A know your rights pamphlet about the juvenile justice system targeting youth. Put together by the Children and Family Justice Center of Bluhm Legal Clinic at Northwestern University's School of Law and the Mental Health and Juvenile Justice Action Network of the Models for Change Initiative of the MacArthur Foundation.
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SHIFTING AWAY FROM INCARCERATION: Fiscal Realignment Strategies to End the Mass Incarceration of Youth in the United States, Illinois Juvenile Justice Initiative
Tags: Illinois | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Member Publications
This paper documents the national shift from away from juvenile incarceration to community alternatives to confinement. Focuses on Redeploy Illinois but documents similar reforms across the U.S. Also highlights U.S. longitudinal research documenting better outcomes for youth treated in community alternatives rather than removed from their homes.
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Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission Juvenile Reentry Improvement Report
Tags: Illinois | Aftercare/Reentry | Reports
After studying ways to increase the likelihood that young offenders will succeed after their release from state youth prisons, the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission issued a report that said the state's juvenile reentry system is broken but not beyond repair.
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Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission Youth Reentry Improvement Report, November 2011
Tags: Illinois | Aftercare/Reentry | Reports
The Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission issued a report in November 2011 (pursuant to S.B. 1725 from 2009) based on observations of 237 parole board hearings and review of the records of 386 youth whose parole was revoked between December 1, 2009 and May 31, 2010. The report notes several problems with the current system, and recommends that: members of the parole board receive training in juvenile-specific topics; specific criteria be used to determine whether youth should be released, and that youth receive their decisions in writing; the parole board establish criteria that ensure youth are reviewed for release more often than once a year, and that youth can request such a hearing; and youth on parole be supervised by "aftercare specialists" trained to help them obtain schooling, treatment, and employment.
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Illinois Creates Racial and Ethnic Impact Research Task Force, S.B. 2271
Tags: Illinois | Disproportionate Minority Contact | Legislation
Illinois' Racial and Ethnic Impact Research Task Force is to determine a practical method for the standardized collection and analysis of data on the racial and ethnic identity of arrested individuals.
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Illinois Limits Use of Secure Confinement, Illinois, H.B. 83
Tags: Illinois | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Legislation
Limits judges' ability to commit youth to secure confinement and the Department of Juvenile Justice until they have determined it is necessary, based on "a review of the youth's age, criminal history, mental health assessment and other factors." The bill also requires judges to verify that commitment to the Department of Juvenile Justice is the least restrictive alternative, and that all reasonable efforts to serve youth in their homes have been made.
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Illinois Requires Consideration of Community Alternatives to Incarceration in All Juvenile Cases, H.B. 83
Tags: Illinois | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Legislation
Legislation now requires juvenile court judges in Illinois to review additional factors before sentencing youth, with the goal of ensuring incarceration is the last resort. The law states that the court may commit a youth to the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) only if such commitment is the least restrictive alternative appropriate for the youth.
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Illinois Broadens Options for Youth Facing Parole Revocation, H.B. 5914
Tags: Illinois | Aftercare/Reentry | Life Without Parole and Parole Issues | Legislation
Youth found to have violated parole in Illinois have broader options: such youth may be continued under the existing term of parole, with or without modification; may be placed in a group home or residential facility; or may be recommitted. The law also instructs the Juvenile Justice Commission to develop recommendations regarding due process protections during release decision-making processes, including parole and parole revocation proceedings.
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Illinois Lessens Penalty for Youth Charged with “Sexting,” H.B. 4583
Tags: Illinois | Sex Offender Registries | Legislation
Illinois law provides that a youth who distributes indecent visual depictions of another youth may be adjudged a minor in need of supervision. If the youth is found to be in need of supervision, he or she may be ordered to obtain counseling or other supportive services, or required to perform community service. Prior to the new law, prosecutors had to charge such youth under stricter pornography laws, which could lead to designation as a sex offender.
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Local and Statewide Collaborations Working to Reform the Juvenile Justice System Presentation, Lael Chester (MA), Betsy Clarke (IL), and Liz Kooy (IL)
Tags: Illinois | Massachusetts | General System Reform | Presentations
Presentation by NJJN's Massachusetts and Illinois members on general reform considerations.
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WBEZ Chicago "Inside and Out" Series
Tags: Illinois | General System Reform | Media
Web site of WBEZ Chicago's "Inside and Out" series, profiling young people and the juvenile justice system in Illinois.
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Illinois Court process Juvenile defense Self incrimination Juvenile justice reform
Tags: Illinois | Juvenile Defense and Court Process | Legislation
The Illinois General Assembly passed a law prohibiting statements made by youth, parents or guardians as part of any behavioral health screening, assessment, evaluation, or treatment from being used as evidence against the youth in a delinquency or criminal trial
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Illinois Commission to Develop Plan for Extending Juvenile Court Jurisdiction to 17-Year-Olds Charged with Felonies, S.B. 3085
Tags: Illinois | Youth in the Adult System | Legislation
The Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission is to study and report on possible expansion of the jurisdiction of the juvenile court to include 17-year-olds charged with felonies. The commission's mandate builds on legislation passed in 2009 that raised the age of juvenile jurisdiction from 17 to 18 for youth charged with misdemeanors (S.B. 2275).
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Illinois Allows Greater Separation Between Department of Juvenile Justice and Department of Corrections, H.B. 5913
Tags: Illinois | Youth in the Adult System | Legislation
An Illinois law removes the requirement that the Department of Juvenile Justice share administrative services and facilities with the Department of Corrections. The law additionally encourages collaboration between the Department of Juvenile Justice and "child-serving agencies." The change helps to further differentiate the adult and juvenile systems, and ensure youth are treated in an age-appropriate manner.
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Report on the Behavioral Health Program for Youth Committed to Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice
Tags: Illinois | Mental Health and Substance Abuse | Risk Assessment and Screening | Reports
In response to a request for technical assistance from the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), the Illinois Models for Change initiative assembled a team of mental health and corrections experts to evaluate the department’s behavioral health policies, practices and programming.
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Illinois House Urges United States Senate to Ratify Convention on the Rights of the Child, H.R. 1143
Tags: Illinois | International and Human Rights | Legislation
An Illinois House resolution urges the United States Senate to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The resolution also calls upon state agencies in Illinois to ensure that their policies and programs comply with the convention.
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Illinois Raises the Age for Misdemeanors, Illinois, S.B. 2275/Public Act 95-1031, 2008 Raises the age of juvenile jurisdiction for misdemeanors from 17 to 18
Tags: Illinois | Youth in the Adult System | Legislation
Seventeen-year-olds who are charged only with misdemeanors now have access to the juvenile court's balanced and restorative justice approach to juvenile justice.
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Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission Studies Reentry Issues, S.B. 1725
Tags: Illinois | Aftercare/Reentry | Legislation
Legislation in 2009 directed the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission to study youth who are released from state custody but later returned for parole violations. The goal of the work is to reduce recidivism by youth and improve the safety of their home communities. The commission issued a report in November 2011.
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Toolkit for the Adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by City Councils and State Legislatures, Children and Family Justice Center, Northwestern University School of Law
Tags: International | Illinois | International and Human Rights | Reports
Reference guide outlining the CRC resolution in Chicago and documenting how individuals may be effective in working towards this goal in their own communities. Toolkit includes a step-by-step guide to passing a CRC resolution in your municipality or state, with information about writing a background paper, building a coalition, engaging in outreach with local government officials, and drafting a resolution to passage.
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Toolkit for the Adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by City Councils and State Legislatures, Children and Family Justice Center, November 2009
Tags: Illinois | International and Human Rights | Reports
On February 11, 2009, the Chicago City Council passed a resolution in support of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), agreeing to "advance policies and practices that are in harmony with the principles of the [CRC] in all city agencies and organizations that address issues directly affecting the City's children."
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Illinois Prohibits Sending Juvenile Arrest Records to Federal Bureau of Investigation, S.B. 1030
Tags: Illinois | Collateral Consequences | Confidentiality | Legislation
An Illinois law prohibits the transfer of confidential juvenile arrest records from the Department of State Police to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to further prevent the unnecessary release of confidential juvenile data. The law also improves the process for juveniles with arrests for misdemeanor offenses to clear their records.
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Redeploy Illinois Becomes Permanent Initiative and Expands Across State, S.B. 1013
Tags: Illinois | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Fiscal Issues and Funding | General System Reform | Legislation
In April 2009, the Illinois General Assembly passed a law to convert Redeploy Illinois from a pilot program to a permanent initiative that will be accessible to approximately 70 counties that were previously excluded because of their low numbers of delinquent youth. Redeploy Illinois reallocates state funds from juvenile correctional confinement to local jurisdictions in order to establish a continuum of local, community-based sanctions and treatment alternatives for youth offenders.
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Illinois Expands Redeploy Illinois, Illinois, Public Act 95-1050
Tags: Illinois | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Legislation
Expands the Redeploy Illinois Program from a pilot program to a permanent initiative that will be extended to other counties.
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Chicago City Council Passes Resolution in Support of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Media Advisory, Northwestern University
Tags: International | Illinois | International and Human Rights | Administrative/Regulatory Policies
Press release about the Chicago's resolution supporting the United Nations' CRC. The resolution itself states that the city of Chicago stands behind the CRC because it affirms Chicago's past commitment to protecting the vulnerable and innocent and because would provide a single, comprehensive framework within which the diverse arms of the Chicago city government that can assess and address, in a consistent manner, the rights and protections of children.
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Chicago City Council Resolution in Support of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, February 11, 2009
Tags: Illinois | International and Human Rights | Legislation
On February 11, 2009, the Chicago City Council passed a resolution in support of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), agreeing to "advance policies and practices that are in harmony with the principles of the [CRC] in all city agencies and organizations that address issues directly affecting the City's children."
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Illinois Raises the Age of Juvenile Jurisdiction from 17 to 18 for Youth Charged with Misdemeanors, S.B. 2275
Tags: Illinois | Youth in the Adult System | Legislation
Seventeen-year-olds charged only with misdemeanors will have their cases heard in juvenile court, rather than adult criminal court.
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Redeploy Illinois Annual Report: Implementation and Impact, Legislative Report
Tags: Illinois | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Fiscal Issues and Funding | Reports
Report summarizing Redeploy Illinois study in which four sites were provided with financial support to deliver comprehensive services in their home communities to youth who might otherwise have been sent to the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ) with a goal of reducing juvenile commitments by twenty five percent. In its first three years of providing services, approximately 400 youth residing in the pilot site communities were diverted from commitment to the IDJJ.
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Redeploy Illinois Summary Sheet
Tags: Illinois | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Fiscal Issues and Funding | Reports
Summary of Redeploy Illinois program whose purpose is to create financial incentives to keep youth in the local community rather than commit them to the Department of Juvenile Justice through community-based alternatives. In the first two years of implementation, the Redeploy Illinois pilot sites, on average, reduced commitments to the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ) by forty four percent within their communities, or 226 fewer youth equivalent to gross savings of over $11 million in the four sites.
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Illinois Creates Comprehensive Strategy for Services to Youth through Commission on Children and Youth, Illinois, H.B. 4456/Public Act 95-0781
Tags: Illinois | General System Reform | Legislation
The Commission on Children and Youth will explore how the state can most effectively support children and youth.
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Illinois Establishes Commission to Study Disproportionate Justice Impact, Illinois, S.B. 2476/Public Act 95-0995
Tags: Illinois | Disproportionate Minority Contact | Legislation
Creates the Commission to Study Disproportionate Justice Impact in order to catalogue the nature and extent of harm caused to minority communities through violation and sentencing provisions. The Commission's findings must be submitted by December 31, 2009.
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Illinois Juveniles Gain Meaningful Guarantee of Right to Counsel, Illinois, S.B. 2118/Public Act 95-0846
Tags: Illinois | Juvenile Defense and Court Process | Legislation
Requires the court to appoint counsel for youth retained in custody immediately upon the filing of petition.
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Model School Discipline Policies and Programs, Part 2, Jim Freeman, Advancement Project
Tags: Connecticut | Georgia | Illinois | Maryland | School-to-Prison Pipeline | Administrative/Regulatory Policies | Legislation
Compilation of model discipline policies and programs from Chicago Public Schools; Clayton County, Georgia; and Baltimore School Police, as well as model legislation on suspensions from Connecticut. Compilation also includes examples of prevention, intervention and diversion programs.
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Changing Course: A Review of the First Two Years of Drug Transfer Reform in Illinois, Illinois Juvenile Justice Initiative
Tags: Illinois | Youth in the Adult System | Reports
Report documenting the positive effects of the rollback of Illinois' drug transfer law. In the 1980s, Illinois adopted legislation that required 15- and 16-year-olds to be tried as adults for drug offenses within 1,000 feet of a school or public housing. Twenty years later, the Illinois General Assembly reversed the law, mandating that such cases originate in juvenile rather than adult court. The report finds that while the numbers of youth automatically transferred to adult court declined by two-thirds after the new law was passed in 2005, there was no corresponding increase in juvenile caseloads, thus indicating that the new law did not have a detrimental effect on public safety. The report bolsters the case for further reform of transfer laws to introduce more flexibility, individualization and developmentally appropriate handling.
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Redeploy Illinois: A Good Investment, Juvenile Justice Initiative of Illinois
Tags: Illinois | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Fiscal Issues and Funding | Reports
Summary of Redeploy Illinois program, whose purpose is to create financial incentives to keep youth in the local community rather than commit them to the Department of Juvenile Justice through community-based alternatives.
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The Illinois Juvenile Defender Practice Notebook
Tags: Illinois | Juvenile Defense and Court Process | Reports | Partner Publications
Written by the Children and Family Justice Center of the Bluhm Legal Clinic at Northwestern University School of Law and the National Juvenile Defender Center, and funded by Models for Change, this notebook serves as a practical guide for juvenile defense attorneys in Illinois.
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Illinois Increases Age of Department of Children and Family Services Guardianship, Illinois, Public Act 95-0642
Tags: Illinois | Crossover and Dual Jurisdiction Youth | Legislation
Provides that a minor released from state prison may be placed under the guardianship of the Department of Children and Family Services as long as a basis of abuse, neglect, or dependency exists.
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Illinois Amends Sex Offender Registration Act to Reduce Negative Impact on Youth, Illinois, Public Act 95-0658
Tags: Illinois | Sex Offender Registries | Legislation
Amends sex offender registration act to eliminate the provision that required youth adjudicated with a sex offense to register on the adult, public registry when they reached the state's age of criminal responsibility (17 years).
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Illinois Creates Juvenile Defender Center, Illinois, Public Act 95-0376
Tags: Illinois | Juvenile Defense and Court Process | Legislation
Makes it possible for the State Appellate Defender's office to create a Juvenile Defender Center that will implement model systems for juvenile defense services and train public defenders on juvenile justice issues.
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Illinois Gives Court Control over Juvenile Detention Center, Illinois, Public Act 95-0194
Tags: Illinois | Detention | Legislation
Moves control of the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center away from the county and gives it to the court.
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Illinois Increases Confidentiality of Juvenile Records, Illinois, Public Act 95-0123
Tags: Illinois | Confidentiality | Legislation
Increases confidentiality of records in both pending and non-pending cases.
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Redeploy Illinois: A Good Investment, Juvenile Justice Initiative of Illinois, FY 2009 Appropriations
Tags: Illinois | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Deinstitutionalization | Fiscal Issues and Funding | Reports
Report summarizing Redeploy Illinois study in which four sites were provided with financial support to deliver comprehensive services in their home communities to youth who might otherwise have been sent to the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ) with a goal of reducing juvenile commitments by twenty five percent. In the first two years of implementation, the Redeploy Illinois pilot sites, on average, reduced commitments to IDJJ by forty four percent, or 226 fewer youth, thereby saving the state of Illinois millions of dollars.
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Illinois Renews Redeploy Illinois, Illinois, 730 ILCS 110/16.1, S.B. 1145
Tags: Illinois | Fiscal Issues and Funding | Legislation
The "Redeploy Illinois" Program gives financial support to counties so that they can provide comprehensive services to delinquent youth in their home counties.
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Psychiatric Disorders of Youth in Detention, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Tags: Illinois | Detention | Mental Health and Substance Abuse | Reports
Bulletin discussing psychiatric disorders prevalent in youth offenders. Bulletin draws on research conducted by the Northwestern Juvenile Project, which measured the prevalence of alcohol, drug, and mental disorders among youth detained at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center in Illinois. The study examined the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among youth by gender, race and ethnicity, and age.
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New National Report Reveals that Non-Criminal Offenses Send Girls into Detention Far More Often than Boys, Juvenile Justice Initiative
Tags: Illinois | Girls | Reports
Press release discussing a national report released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation indicating that girls are far more likely to be sent to detention for non-criminal offenses such as technical violations of probation and status offenses such as running away and truancy.
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Illinois Creates Department of Juvenile Justice, Illinois, S.B. 92
Tags: Illinois | General System Reform | Legislation
The department has the authority to provide for appropriate rehabilitative and transitional programs. Previously all youth in custody were under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections.
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Testimony in Support of Raising Age of Juvenile Court Jurisdiction to 18, Presented to the Wisconsin Legislature by Elizabeth Clarke, Illinois Juvenile Justice Initiative
Tags: Illinois | Wisconsin | Youth in the Adult System | Testimony
Testimony supporting Wisconsin's efforts to raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction, highlighting research, U.S. Supreme Court findings in Roper v. Simmons, national and international consensus, and the national movement to raise the age in states where the age of juvenile jurisdiction is still below 18.
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Illinois Limits Automatic Transfer, Illinois, S.B. 283
Tags: Illinois | Youth in the Adult System | Legislation
Eliminates "automatic transfer" provisions that sent juveniles charged with drug offenses to adult court and instead requires individualized review of the transfer decision.
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Illinois Improves Indigent Defense, Illinois, S.B. 1953
Tags: Illinois | Juvenile Defense and Court Process | Legislation
States that youth in delinquency proceedings may not waive their right to counsel.
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Education on Lockdown, Advancement Project
Tags: Colorado | Florida | Illinois | School-to-Prison Pipeline | Reports
Examination of the emergence of zero tolerance school discipline policies and how these policies have pushed students away from an academic track to a future in the juvenile justice system. Report specifically examines (1) how zero tolerance, a policy originally designed to address the most serious misconduct, morphed into a "take no prisoners" approach to school discipline issues and created a direct track into the juvenile and criminal justice systems; (2) the expanding role of law enforcement measures in schools; (3) the disparate impact of these practices on students of color; and (4) how the track is unfolding in Denver, Chicago, and Palm Beach County.
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Fact Sheet on Illinois Juvenile Justice Department, Illinois Juvenile Justice Initiative
Tags: Illinois | General System Reform | Reports
Fact sheet describing the need for and support of the creation of a Department of Juvenile Justice within the Illinois government.