October 2015
Greetings:
On behalf of the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission, it's my privilege to highlight our activities
and achievements in 2013 and 2014. As you will see, we have engaged in significant work to
improve our juvenile justice system with goals of public safety, positive youth outcomes and
fiscal responsibility.
Our work includes two roles. First, we provide federal grant funds to juvenile justice partners
across the state to maintain compliance with the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention Act and to support innovations that keep youth out of the system wherever possible
and provide developmentally appropriate services for those who are system-involved. Second, we
serve as advisors to the Governor, General Assembly and Illinois Department of Human Services
on juvenile justice matters.
In the next year, we will release two new policy reports at the request of the General Assembly.
Senate and House Joint Resolution 79, adopted in the fall of 2014, requested that we study issues
of juvenile records confidentiality and expungement. House Resolution 396, adopted in the spring
of 2015, urged that we partner with the Juvenile Justice Initiative and the Illinois Balanced and
Restorative Justice Project to study how restorative justice practices can be more fully used in
Illinois. Both of these studies are underway and reports will be submitted in 2016.
We look forward to working with all three branches of government at the state, county, and
municipal levels, along with the many dedicated non-profit agencies who tirelessly work with our
state's youth.
Sincerely,
Hon. George W. Timberlake (Retired)
Chair