Redeploy Illinois provides services to youth between the ages of 13 and 18 who are at high risk of commitment to the Department of Juvenile Justice. Participating counties receive funds to build a continuum of care for youth in the juvenile justice system. Counties link youth to a wide array of needed services and supports within the community, as determined through an individualized needs assessment. Services are provided in the least restrictive manner possible and can include case management, court advocacy, education assistance, counseling and crisis intervention.
New cost-saving info from 2021 annual report: a 65% decrease in the number of commitments to IDJJ from participating counties, with nearly 4,000 fewer youth committed to IDJJ, a net cost savings of over $158 Million for the State of Illinois and its taxpayers
Reducing Crime
Every year, hundreds of Illinois teenagers enter the juvenile justice system by engaging in illegal behavior. The effect on the lives of these youth is often devastating and the cost to the state is enormous.
Research has found that non-violent youth are less likely to become further involved in criminal behavior if they remain in their home communities and receive appropriate services to address underlying needs such as mental illness, substance abuse, learning disabilities, unstable living arrangements and dysfunctional parenting. Community-based services have also been demonstrated as significantly less expensive than a sentence to corrections. Unfortunately, many counties in Illinois lack the resources to effectively serve justice system involved youth locally. A lack of local programs and services plays a significant role in the court’s decision to commit a youth to a correctional facility. The funds provided to the Redeploy sites fills the gaps in their continuum of services, allowing them to cost-effectively serve youth in their home communities and reduce reliance on corrections.
This progressive effort builds on the work done in other states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania, which successfully reduced juvenile incarceration rates through similarly-structured programs. Redeploy Illinois is paying off: a 2010 cost benefit analysis indicated that, on average, the eight Redeploy sites reduced their commitments in 2010 by 53% from their pre-program baselines. Based on the per capita cost of incarcerating one juvenile in DJJ, this decrease in commitments translates to a $9,038,927 cost avoidance for the State of Illinois. Youth are being successfully treated in their own communities and kept from the devastation of incarceration, saving the state money, reducing the number of crime victims, and creating safer communities across Illinois.
A Better Future
Redeploy Illinois has been hailed as a model for the nation in efforts to reduce inefficient and ineffective juvenile justice systems. In a study released in March of 2010 by the Justice Policy Institute, Redeploy Illinois was cited as an example of the kind of program other states should embrace as a way to reduce prison costs and prevent young offenders from falling into futures dominated by criminal behavior and incarceration.
Redeploy Illinois Site Map
The map below shows current Redeploy Illinois sites (blue), sites in the planning grant phase (light yellow), and counties eligible for full Redeploy Illinois program funding. Eligible counties or groups of counties are those that average 10 or more commitments to IDJJ a year (Rock Island County). Counties shaded gray (not a site) do not meet this threshold.
