The Partner | May 2021
A Message from Sheriff John D. Idleburg
Before getting to the focus of this month's newsletter, I am pleased to announce the launch of the Lake County, IL Criminal Justice Community Council website. This website will serve as a central site for community-driven information about the Lake County, IL criminal justice system.
Focus Groups
Last year, the Lake County Equity Team used Safety and Justice Challenge grant money to fund two experienced focus group facilitators to conduct three focus groups and several interviews with members of the Lake County community who have been directly and indirectly impacted by the local criminal justice system. In September 2020, the focus group facilitators submitted a report to the Lake County criminal justice system stakeholders with findings and recommendations.
What Were the Findings From the Focus Groups?
Not only was this newsletter inspired by the recommendations in the report from participants of the focus groups, but the Lake County, IL Criminal Justice Community Council website is also a direct result of this initiative. This newsletter and the website are only a couple small actions resulting from the focus group initiative. The rest will be an ongoing effort between community members and criminal justice system stakeholders. For now, below is the report we received from the focus group consultants. Rather than try and summarize the recommendations from the focus groups report here, you are encouraged to read it for yourself. Then, if you want, email your thoughts to us at sheriff@lakecountyil.gov with "Focus Groups" as the subject.
You can help inform and engage the community about this work by forwarding this newsletter to three friends and encouraging them to sign up here.
The Safety and Justice Challenge strategies at Lake County, IL are proudly led and supported by:
Lake County Sheriff's Office
Lake County State's Attorney Office
19th Judicial Circuit Court
Lake County Public Defender's Office
Nicasa Behavioral Health Services
This project was created with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation as part of the Safety and Justice Challenge, which seeks to reduce over-incarceration by changing the way America thinks about and uses jails.