Redeploy Illinois 2011 Annual Report - Conclusion
Redeploy Illinois began in 2005 with four sites serving 15 counties. In 2009 the program expanded to additional sites and is now being implemented in 28 counties. Prior to the inception of the program, an average of 356 youth in each of these 28 counties were being incarcerated each year that would have been eligible for Redeploy services. With the implementation of Redeploy, these counties have instead committed 174 youth per year on average since beginning implementation. This represents a 51% reduction in the number of youth incarcerated every year, averting tens of millions of dollars in incarceration costs to the State.
A brief overview of youth in the Redeploy program in 2011 includes the following:
- 265 new youth were enrolled.
- Fifty-nine percent (59%) of those youth were 15 or 16 years of age.
- Eighty-seven percent (87%) were males.
- Forty-nine percent (49%) were Caucasian.
- Thirty-three percent (33%) were African American.
- Eighty percent (80%) were being charged with committing felony offenses.
- Seventy-four percent (74%) of the male youth were on probation at the time of admission into the program.
- Thirty-three percent (33%) of the female youth were on probation at the time of admission.
- Sixty-eight (68%) of the male youth had prior arrests at the time of admission.
- Twenty-three percent (23%) of the female youth had prior arrests at the time of admission.
- Thirty-two percent (32%) of the males had prior detention center stays at the time of admission.
- Seventeen percent (17%) of the female youth had prior detention center stays at the time of admission.
An analysis conducted by Illinois State University has compiled compelling preliminary recidivism information from the four original pilot programs. This early data analysis indicates that compared to juvenile justice involved youth in the same Redeploy counties who were not served in the program, 17.4% of youth successfully completing services were arrested on new charges, compared to 72.8% of the non-program youth. Further, 14.2% of the Redeployed youth were committed to juvenile correctional facilities, compared to 57.4% of the non-program youth. Data even suggest that youth who do not successfully complete redeploy services still see significantly fewer re-arrests and incarcerations over the period of the study.
Although the final results of the recidivism analysis are not expected until the fall of 2012, there is clear evidence that youth participating in Redeploy are re-arrested and/or incarcerated at greatly reduced rates compared to youth not served in the program. The Redeploy Illinois Oversight Board (RIOB) is confident that the results of the recidivism and cost benefit analysis underway will help to demonstrate not only the financial benefits of the program but will also demonstrate the significant impact that such a program has on the lives of these youth, families and communities.
In the coming year, the Department intends to finalize plans to utilize ARRA funding to award a grant to the Center for Public Safety and Justice, Institute of Government and Public Affairs, University of Illinois, to develop well researched, empirically supported policy recommendations for the statewide expansion of Redeploy Illinois. The University will examine barriers to the expansion efforts; develop statewide programmatic and funding models; and prepare recommendations for a marketing strategy for statewide promotion and adoption.
