The Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission - IJJC

12/02/2020

Efforts to deflect youth from juvenile justice system involvement have had promising results. They're also critical to reduce the system's overrepresentation of Black and brown youth, reduce trauma & conserve resources.

Our newest report outlines best practices to consider when designing & implementing deflection programs in cities throughout Illinois: https://bit.ly/3mzTrDh

11/19/2020

Data on how many Illinois youths were admitted into detention & for what reasons during September 2020 is now available for viewing: http://ijjc.illinois.gov/publications/september-2020-juvenile-detention-data-report

11/10/2020

One thing that makes the Commission effective is that our individual Commissioners bring a wide variety of experiences & perspectives to our work. That's why we're so lucky to have Commissioner Esther Franco-Payne!

Since 1999, she's been working in her local community to affect lasting change around violence prevention & criminal justice reform. See why the Chicago Tribune recently recognized her as one of Chicago's most influential Black woman leaders: https://bit.ly/2JYAJqR

11/06/2020

Great to see our Commissioners sharing their experiences/work within the juvenile justice system, as well as their thoughts for reimagining the system for youth!

Article: https://dailynorthwestern.com/2020/10/28/lateststories/nu-profs-and-criminal-justice-researcher-discuss-juvenile-justice-reform/

Northwestern University

Pritzker profs. Julie Biehl and Shobha Mahadev and researcher Marshan Allen discussed juvenile justice Tuesday at a roundtable sponsored by the Northwestern Prison Education Program. The event, a part of “Transforming Criminal Justice: In Illinois and Beyond” series, focused on the themes of the...

11/05/2020

With Equip For Equality's help, we're continuing our webinar series around better supporting justice-involved youth with disabilities.

Join us next Thursday to learn how increasing access to transition planning & student services can help re-route youth from the juvenile/criminal legal systems & improve post-secondary outcomes. Register: https://bit.ly/2I5glTZ

10/29/2020

TODAY AT 3PM, join us & Equip For Equality to become better advocates for reducing the number of youth w/ disabilities who are justice-involved.

Register now: https://bit.ly/31owVEW

10/20/2020

Youth with disabilities are overrepresented in the juvenile & criminal justice systems.

Join us & Equip For Equality next week to learn how a failure to meet the needs of young people with disabilities in the school setting leads to this problem: https://bit.ly/31owVEW

10/19/2020

Data on how many Illinois youth were admitted into detention & for what reasons during the month of August is now available: http://ijjc.illinois.gov/publications/august-2020-juvenile-detention-data-report

09/30/2020

"You can see how many 10, 11, 12-year-olds [were held in juvenile detention]...each of those represent someone's son, daughter, or young child who is having this traumatic experience of being placed behind secure doors in a cell." -

Pre-trial juvenile detentions in Illinois fell 19 percent between March and April.

09/14/2020

We're excited to announce that The Coleman Foundation appointed IJJC Commissioner Shelley Davis as its new President & CEO - http://ijjc.illinois.gov/newsroom/commissioner-shelley-davis-appointed-president-ceo-coleman-foundation

09/11/2020

In 2020, 215 Illinois youth between the ages of 11-13 have been in detention, according to data from our July 2020 Juvenile Detention Data Report.

Read it here: https://bit.ly/3bOrH9y

09/08/2020

Despite efforts to scale back the transfers of youth to adult courts, Illinois law still permits the trial & sentencing of youth as adults. And these transfer laws still disproportionately affect youth of color.

Read a recent NBC Chicago story on how this practice impacted IJJC Commissioner Marshan Allen, & how it increases harm & devalues youth's unique potential for rehabilitation: http://ijjc.illinois.gov/newsroom/trial-sentencing-juveniles-adults-increases-harm-devalues-youth-potential-rehabilitation