Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice Comprehensive Aftercare Reentry Model

The Second Chance Act of 2007 (Pub. L. 110-199) provides a comprehensive response to the increasing number of incarcerated adults and juveniles who are released from prison, jail, and juvenile residential facilities and are returning to their communities. The FY 2014 Second Chance Act Two-Phase Juvenile Reentry Demonstration Program will help ensure that the assessments and services youth receive in secure confinement, reentry planning process, and services and supervision youth receive upon reentry promote reduced recidivism rates and improvements in positive youth outcomes.

Recent data indicate that more than 60 percent of youth released from Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ) facilities return to a juvenile or adult correctional facility within three years. A study of the failing juvenile reentry system in Illinois completed by the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission in 2011 revealed that several factors contributed to this problem. These factors include a lack of objective risk and needs assessment, a lack of coordinated case planning, failure to adequately prepare youth for release or support their release with linkage to necessary services while on parole, and a lack of appropriate incentives and sanctions to respond to youth behavior while on parole.

With Second Chance Act funds, IDJJ proposes to develop and implement a comprehensive aftercare reentry model that addresses these key failings of the Department's current juvenile reentry system. Specifically, IDJJ will implement administration of the Youth Assessment and Screening Instrument (YASI) to all youth being processed at the Department's reception and classification sites at St. Charles and Warrenville facilities. At each of these facilities, IDJJ will also develop and implement a goal-oriented Youth Development Plan (YDP), informed by YASI results and input from the youth, facility staff, aftercare staff, family, and appropriate treatment providers. The YDP will guide programming and services from the point of facility admission through the period of aftercare, and will be reviewed at regular intervals to inform progress and necessary adjustments. The YDP will also ensure that youth are linked to programs, services and supports that meet their individual needs and address criminogenic risk. The Department will also develop and implement a system of appropriate incentives and graduated sanctions to reduce the number of youth who are revoked from parole for technical violations.

To support the development of this model, IDJJ will partner with the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission, who serves as Illinois' State Advisory Group. The Commission will act as the required Reentry Task Force, will help develop a performance measurement plan and annual improvement targets, will help identify and coordinate funding streams available to sustain the model, and will help address policy barriers to successful reentry. CA/NCF