Redeploy Illinois Trends

With the assistance of IDJJ and the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA), the Redeploy Illinois Oversight Board studies trends in utilization of IDJJ by Redeploy Illinois counties, as a means of monitoring program implementation and system impact. Following is a discussion of trends in IDJJ utilization and related juvenile justice system activity in the four original Redeploy Illinois pilot sites - the 2nd Judicial Circuit, Macon County, Peoria County, and St. Clair County (see below for a review of recent implementation studies in the five Phase II Redeploy Illinois sites, referred to as "Phase II").

Table 1 below summarizes overall trends in total Redeploy eligible commitments (excludes murder and class X forcible felonies) to IDJJ for youth adjudicated as delinquent in the Redeploy Illinois pilot sites for calendar years 2001 through 2007, covering a time period before and after enactment of the Redeploy Illinois legislation. Table 1further breaks down those commitments by court evaluation commitments (youth sent to IDJJ for temporary periods of time under 'bring back' orders) and court evaluation returns (return of youth to IDJJ following a temporary commitment--for example, when a youth does not display an appropriate 'adjustment' to incarceration). During this time, total Redeploy eligible commitments to IDJJ (and the former Illinois Department of Corrections Juvenile Division) in the four Redeploy Illinois pilot sites decreased by 55 percent, from 212 in 2004 to 96 in 2007.

From 2001 to 2004, court evaluation commitments increased 60 percent from 72 in 2001 to 115 in 2004. Since that time, court evaluation commitments, the primary target for reduction by the Redeploy Illinois legislation, decreased by 94 percent, from 115 in 2004 to seven in 2007. These data suggest that the Redeploy Illinois initiative has been successful in reducing the number of temporary court evaluation commitments in the pilot counties. Table 1 further shows that court evaluation returns (return of youth to IDJJ following a temporary commitment--for example, when a youth does not display an appropriate 'adjustment' to incarceration) also reduced significantly in the four Redeploy Illinois pilot sites, demonstrating a 91 percent reduction.

Figure 1 below summarizes the extent to which the four Redeploy Illinois pilot sites have utilized local juvenile detention from 2001 to 2007. This information is important, because it monitors whether the pilot sites replace state incarceration (e.g., in IDJJ) with local incarceration (e.g., in a local juvenile detention center). With the exception of one increase in utilization of local detention by St. Clair County in 2006, the Redeploy Illinois pilot sites did not show an overall increase in the number of local detention days following the implementation of Redeploy Illinois. Peoria and St. Clair counties showed decreases in the use of local detention from 2004 to 2007, while the 2nd Circuit and Macon County showed no change, although Macon County experienced a slight increase from 2005 to 2006.

Table 1

Number of Commitments to IDJJ
by Redeploy Illinois Pilot Sites
Calendar Year 2001 to 2007

Figure 1

Number of Admissions to Local Detention
by Redeploy Illinois Pilot Sites,
CY01 - CY07

* Black vertical line denotes beginning of Redeploy Illinois program.