Strategies: 2021 - 2022

The CJCC is a strategy of the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge. The Safety and Justice Challenge’s goal is to develop and model effective ways to keep people out of jail who do not pose a threat to public safety, more effectively reintegrate to community upon release, and help reduce recidivism while identifying and working towards reducing racial ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system. The strategies outlined below are meant to address the Safety and Justice Challenge’s goals in the Lake County Criminal Justice System.

Revised Jail population reduction target 475

Equity Team

  • Engaging the community in monitoring our jail population drivers and eliminating racial and ethnic disparities

  • Increase the communication and trust between communities and stakeholders

  • Add community members to the decision-making table

  • Decrease the percentage of persons from communities of color admitted to the jail

Living Room Wellness Center

  • Police drop-off crisis triage stabilization center

  •  Divert 12-15 persons per month from entering the criminal justice system  

  •  Serve as the hub to partner community agencies to increase health, equity, and health literacy.

COAST

  • Crisis Outreach and Support Team

  •  Mobile Crisis Co-Responder Program (deputy and social worker) with 12-15 served per month

  • Peer Recovery Specialist provides 60-90 days follow up

    • Increases community outreach

    • Use of social media and community forums where there is racial, ethnic, and health disparity

    • 2024 Achievement Award Winner

Pretrial Services Initiatives

  •  Public Safety Assessment Implementation 

  •  Judicial and Justice Partner Training

  • Our goal is for 50% of those have a PSA Risk Assessment completed at first appearance to receive an unsecured no-cash bond

  • Additional goal: reaching 75% of all defendants appearing in Bond Court with a PSA assessment to aid the court in making a bond decision

  • Reduce over-reliance on Pretrial Supervision (884 Sept. 23, 2020)

  • Reduce the number of persons charged with technical violations by changing internal policies

  • Court Date Text Notifications*

    • Public Defender

    • Pretrial

CJCC

  • Criminal justice Community Council

  • Quarterly Meetings –Virtual

    • Covid-19 Update/Trends

    • State’s Attorney’s Office Domestic Violence/Overdose Trends

  • Pretrial reform

  • Data Presentations –Loyola Center for Criminal Justice Research, Policy and Practice

Data Dashboards

  • Sheriff’s Office Jail Dashboard

    • 2019 Releases

      • Race & Ethnicity

      • Gender

      • Most Serious Offense

    • 2020 Admissions & Releases

  •  State’s Attorneys Office