Redeploy Illinois 2011 Annual Report - Program Effectiveness
In the summer of 2010, the IDHS entered into a contract with Illinois State University to conduct an analysis of the Redeploy program at the four original sites (2nd Judicial Circuit, Macon County, Peoria County, and St. Clair County). This effort includes two separate components: a study of recidivism in those communities and a cost/benefit analysis, both intended to demonstrate program effectiveness and to support expansion into additional areas. ARRA funds provided to the Department by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA) are being used for the analysis. A team at Illinois State University has been working with the four original sites and a control county to conduct research that addresses two key questions related to Redeploy:
- What are the costs and benefits of handling medium- to high-risk delinquent youth in traditional diversion programs compared to participation in Redeploy?
- What is the public safety impact of Redeploy Illinois? That is, do Redeploy counties experience lower rates of youth recidivism than counties without the program?
When completed, the analysis will include a literature review of cost/benefit methodologies, interviews with key stakeholders, and an assessment of the impact of the program. To date, the Illinois State University study has produced a preliminary summary of recidivism data. As shown in Table 7, the data, while preliminary, are compelling: recidivism rates for Redeploy youth at the four sites are significantly lower than for youth who were not enrolled in the program or who failed to complete the program.
TABLE 7: Recidivism Rates at Original Pilot Sites: Non-Redeploy Juvenile Justice Involved Youth and Redeploy Youth, by Termination Type*
|
New
Offense
|
Technical
Violation
|
IDJJ Court
Evaluation
|
IDJJ Full
Commitment
|
|
Non-Redeploy
JJ-Involved Youth (n=150)
|
72.80% |
46.30% |
2.60% |
54.80% |
|
Redeploy -
Successful Termination (n=633)
|
17.40% |
15.50% |
1.10% |
13.10% |
|
Redeploy
Unsuccessful Termination (n=270)
|
51.20% |
18.50% |
6.40% |
39.10% |
|
Redeploy
Neutral Termination (n=69)
|
20.20% |
30.40% |
0.00% |
13.00% |
* The factors that determined success/non-success varied by site.
Early analysis indicates that only 17.4% of youth who successfully completed Redeploy services were arrested on new charges during the period covered by the study, compared to 72.8% of juvenile justice-involved youth not in Redeploy in the same counties. Further, the rate of re-incarceration among Redeploy participants was 14.2%, compared to 57.4% among non-participants. Data even suggest that youth who do not successfully complete Redeploy services experience significantly fewer re-arrests and incarcerations.
