Around Illinois
Cook County Offering 'Amnesty Week' For Unpaid Court Costs - Ends Oct. 21
WBEZ, 10/17/16
Cook County is offering a discount on outstanding court costs this week. During the so-called "amnesty week" people can pay overdue costs without paying the fees leveled by a collection agency. Amnesty Week ends Friday, October 21. Full and partial payments are accepted. Pay in-person 8:30am-4:30pm. Pay by phone hours extended to 7:30am-6pm. Visit the website of the Clerk of the Circuit Court for more details.
Education Desk: What Medicaid Waiver Might Mean For Illinois
WIUS, 10/19/16
Illinois has applied to the federal government for a waiver that could bring Illinois not only a significant increase in Medicaid dollars, but also more flexibility for how those dollars are spent. We talked to two members of Gov. Bruce Rauner's cabinet -- Human Services Secretary James Dimas and George Sheldon, acting secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services -- about what this waiver would mean for the state.
State Rep Looks To Reform County Bond System
WBEZ, 10/17/16
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said more than 90 percent of the people in the jail are awaiting trial, most because they can't afford bail. According to Dart, on Friday 271 of the approximately 9,000 held at the jail needed $1,000 or less to get out, but couldn't come up with the money. When sheriff's employees identify an individual in that situation they reach out to the public defender and prosecutor to push to have the bail reduced. Dart said he wants to be able to skip that step and make the request to the judge himself. That requires a change to state law, and state Rep. La Shawn Ford is trying to make it happen. Ford said he is wants lawmakers to make the change during the upcoming veto session.
Human Service Backlog Leaves People with Mental Illness Sitting in Jail
Chicago Tonight | WTTW, 10/19/16
On any given day in Cook County courts, there are between 20 and 40 individuals who have been deemed unfit to stand trial because of mental illness and are remanded to a mental health facility. But they are sitting in jail instead, sometimes for months. All of this is according to Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, and it's sparked anxiety about mental health treatment in Illinois and whether or not there are patients being left on the street as well. "We struggle with the fact that society has dumped the mentally ill in jails and prisons," says Dart. "That's bad enough as it is. But then when you have people that are so sick that they can't stand trial, theoretically they are supposed to be sent to a facility to be brought up to some level of capacity so they can stand for trial. But we can't get a bed space there for that event to occur. That's horrible." The problem isn't limited to Cook County Jail alone. In suburban and downstate counties, there are 87 individuals sitting in county jails for an average of 40 days waiting to be placed into a mental health facility - suggesting a backlog throughout the state's entire mental health system.
Report: Criminal Justice System's Expansion Has Cost Illinois $83 Billion
Progress Illinois, 10/19/16
Expansion of the U.S. criminal justice system cost the country $3.4 trillion over the 30-year period from 1982 to 2012, according to a new report.
At the state level, Illinois spent $83 billion more on the criminal justice system over those three decades than it would had spending remained steady since 1982, the research found. The spending figures were adjusted for inflation in 2016 dollars.
Report:
"The $3.4 Trillion Mistake: The Cost of Mass Incarceration and Criminalization, and How Justice Reinvestment Can Build a Better Future for All" (Communities United | Make the Road New York | Padres & Jóvenes Unidos): http://www.reinvest4justice.org/report/
Illinois Corrections proposes new limits on inmate segregation
Quad-City Times, 10/19/16
Acknowledging that in the past, individuals in state prisons have too often been housed in segregation, the Illinois Department of Corrections is proposing new restrictions on the practice. "This is going to be a culture change, frankly, for the Illinois Department of Corrections," department attorney Nancy Vincent said Wednesday in Springfield during a public hearing on the proposal. "And we also want the public to understand that this is just the first step, both in that culture change and in how we administer discipline and segregation." Among other changes, the proposal would require that mental health professionals play a greater role in determining whether segregation is an appropriate disciplinary measure for a particular individual.
State works to improve childhood mental health
WCIA, 10/19/16
The National Alliance on Mental Health says one-in-five children, ages 13 - 18, have or will develop serious mental illness. The state is stepping up its efforts to catch those warning signs earlier rather than lager. Mental health professionals teamed up with state agencies to help transform how the state can improve. "Each of these children is a unique human being. We need to think of them as a whole person. That's what the summit is about." Hundreds from around the state met at the Zero to Three policy meeting to take steps forward to tackling mental and behavioral health. Zero to three is the age group advocates say is best to treat before it's too late.
Chicago Stocking Narcan On Fire Trucks
WLS-AM, 10/19/16
In Chicago, there's some good news to report about the epidemic of heroin overdoses. Narcan, the prescription drug that saves lives in the many cases of heroin overdose, is now onboard all of the Chicago Fire Dept's trucks and paramedic units. Fire Commissioner Jose Santiago says it's a big deal because time is of the essence in these emergencies.
Kane state's attorney: Police need more mental health crisis training
The Beacon-News | Chicago Tribune, 10/19/16
Kane County State's Attorney Joe McMahon's budget proposal for 2017 includes funding to train police officers in the recognition of, and response to, citizens struggling with mental health issues. Pre-trial diversion programs and treatment-alternative courts have shown success in giving people a chance to straighten out their lives while being held accountable for their actions, according to McMahon. Seizing that opportunity means they are less likely to end up in front of a judge or behind bars again. "When they buy into the treatment programs, the recidivism rate goes down," he explained. "These programs work. They change lives. The idea of warehousing (people in jail) doesn't work."
Pekin police work to save lives in opioid epidemic
Peoria Journal Star, 10/19/16
A Pekin police officer Tuesday apparently saved a 33-year-old woman from a fatal overdose by administering the anti-opiate drug naloxone after a 911 call brought him to the residence where the woman was near death, Public Information Officer Mike Eeten said Wednesday. It was the first time an officer applied the product, also known as Narcan, since city police began carrying it in early September. Individuals are also starting to make use of another anti-heroin initiative the department announced last month, Eeten said. Under the Safe Passage Program, individuals can come to police headquarters to turn in drugs and paraphernalia and get connected to treatment, rather than face arrest and criminal charges. Safe Passages and officers with naloxone are among several efforts the Pekin department has undertaken in its Heroin Initiative. The department will continue the initiative with a Town Hall Meeting on Opiate Addiction at 6 p.m. Nov. 10 at the Pekin Public Library.
Will County officials attest to drug court success with U.S. senator
The Herald-News, 10/18/16
Two Will County drug court participants joined U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, and others at a roundtable discussion Tuesday at the Will County building to talk about addiction treatment and the heroin epidemic. Will County has reached a new record of 56 fatal heroin overdoses so far this year. Durbin said drug courts across the nation have made a difference. Will County State's Attorney Jim Glasgow attested to the county's success with drug courts, saying they are the "backbone of the fight against heroin."
Research, Reports, and Studies
Report: More than half of mentally ill U.S. adults get no treatment
The Washington Post, 10/19/16
Mental Health America just released its annual assessment of Americans with mental illness, the treatment they receive and the resources available to them - and the conclusions are sobering: Twenty percent of adults (43.7 million people) have a mental health condition, and more than half of them do not receive treatment. Among youth, the rates of depression are rising, but 80 percent of children and adolescents get either insufficient treatment or none at all.
Criminal justice reform: Issues and options for the next president
The Brookings Institution, 10/14/16
In this report, The Brookings Institution set out to collect and compile the best substantiated data on critical elements of the criminal justice system and to provide an informed and common framework for understanding the state of the system today, and the proposed reforms that will shape its future.
https://www.brookings.edu/research/criminal-justice-reform-issues-and-options-for-the-next-president/
