All counties in good standing with the State of Illinois are eligible to apply for funding through Adult Redeploy Illinois to establish or expand local services to divert non-violent offenders from the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC). Counties may apply for planning and/or implementation grants individually or as a group of counties, such as a judicial circuit. A lead county must be identified as the grantee.
The Crime Reduction Act (Public Act 96-0761) excludes violent offenders from Adult Redeploy Illinois. In addition, there are a number of offenses that disqualify people from alternatives to incarceration based on statute. These disqualifying offenses are listed in the Unified Code of Corrections (730 ILCS et seq.), and are on the Adult Redeploy Illinois web site (http://www.icjia.org/redeploy). Technical parole violators are excluded from the program as they are under IDOC supervision.
From the pool of non-violent offenders that qualify for alternatives to incarceration, a jurisdiction may want to further reduce the baseline by focusing on a specific group of offenders, e.g., drug-addicted, mentally ill. The strongest proposals for implementation funds will divert the largest number of non-violent offenders from prison without negatively impacting public safety.
The reduction goal is calculated from a baseline number that will be negotiated between the staff of Redeploy Illinois and the jurisdiction based on the agreed-upon definition of the program-eligible population and then approved by the Oversight Board. The program-eligible population for Adult Redeploy Illinois must exclude individuals convicted of violent and other disqualifying offenses.
The local Adult Redeploy Illinois planning body may choose to target all of the remaining non-violent offenders, or choose a subset of all other eligible individuals. The baseline number is the average number in that program-eligible population over the prior three years. The baseline number is then multiplied by 25% to arrive at the reduction goal in the number of IDOC admissions from that program-eligible population for the Adult Redeploy Illinois program.
As an accountability mechanism, the Crime Reduction Act stipulates that a penalty shall be assessed to a county or judicial circuit that does not meet its reduction goal, resulting in a portion of the grant funds to be reimbursed to the Oversight Board. The intent is for sites to meet their goals; any penalties would follow technical assistance and extensive negotiations between the Oversight Board and the sites.
The amount of the penalty assessed will be left to the discretion of the Oversight Board, which shall take into consideration factors affecting the jurisdictions ability to meet the required reduction, including whether the failure to meet the reduction was beyond the control of the jurisdiction or other extenuating or mitigating circumstances. The Oversight Board has set the maximum penalty at no more than one-half of the annual marginal cost of commitment to IDOC for each admission to prison short of the reduction goal. (In FY09, the average annual marginal cost of incarceration was approximately $5,000; hence, the reimbursement to the Oversight Board would not exceed $2,500 per prison admission).
In the initial implementation phase, each pilot site will be allowed a ramp-up period to get the program elements in place before performance measurement begins in earnest. Sites will be required to submit data on a regular basis with which to gauge progress toward the reduction goal. At the six-month mark, there will be a status check-in at each site, comparing IDOC commitment numbers to the data submitted by the jurisdictions. The purpose of the check-in will be to identify any problems, negotiate compromises, recommend corrective action, and offer technical assistance. The sites will be assessed on progress towards their reduction goals at the end of the grant period.
Program effectiveness will be tracked through an independent evaluation conducted by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA), and through required regular reporting. Evaluation results will be part of the required annual reporting to the Governor and General Assembly per the Crime Reduction Act, and shared with the public and policy makers in an ongoing effort to improve public safety and save taxpayer dollars.
The Adult Redeploy Illinois program was initially funded with state General Revenue Fund dollars allocated by Governor Quinn to start up the program. Funding that is being made available through 2012 to implement Adult Redeploy Illinois is being supplied from federal funding to Illinois through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) through the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program (JAG).
Since funds are supplied from federal funding to Illinois through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) through the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program (JAG), applicants must understand these grant funds have strict guidelines and reporting requirements. In order to be eligible for funding, jurisdictions must certify that they understand and shall comply with the ARRA JAG grant guidelines and reporting requirements. An overview of the ARRA JAG guidelines and reporting requirements are:
Funds shall be used to support a local plan approved by the ARIOB that is intended to meet the goals of Adult Redeploy Illinois. Adult Redeploy Illinois funds may not be used for capital expenditures, renovations or remodeling. In addition, Adult Redeploy Illinois funds shall not be used to supplant existing county-funded programs.
The Crime Reduction Act calls for a rigorous evaluation process at the program level and the site level with standardized performance measurements to confirm the effectiveness of the services in reducing crime. Specifically the legislation requires the development of a performance measurement system that includes but is not limited to the following key performance indicators, some of which are intentionally focused on the important positive outcomes the program is designed to achieve:
Jurisdictions are required to include a performance measurement system as part of their local plan and to provide data annually for evaluation purposes. In addition, researchers from ICJIA will be conducting a long-term evaluation of the program.
Yes. Some jurisdictions are using the Adult Redeploy Illinois program as an opportunity to create or expand existing drug and other specialty courts. Funds can be used to increase court staff for the program and boost the capacity of local service providers.
The goal of the ARRA funds is to create and preserve jobs. Adult Redeploy Illinois implementation funds can be used for example to hire additional probation officers or pay probation officers to work on the ARI program (as long as their previous positions are back-filled). Funds can also be used to retain probation officer positions that would otherwise be eliminated due to budget cuts, etc.
The members of the Adult Redeploy Illinois Oversight Board are designated by law. The Oversight Board includes representatives from state agencies, local probation departments and community-based organizations, and is co-chaired by the Director of the Department of Corrections and the Secretary of the Department of Human Services. The Oversight Board is charged with increasing effective alternatives to incarceration and building community capacity.
Opportunities to apply for planning and/or implementation grants are announced periodically, as funds are available. The application process developed by the ARIOB includes:
- Initial planning grant phase: Providing up to $30,000 to convene stakeholders and analyze data over a 60-90-day period.
- Completion of local plan using Standard Plan Template, submitted to ARIOB for approval.
- Pilot site implementation grant phase: Providing competitive grants of up to $1,000,000 (based on population) for 12 months of implementation and a ramp-up period (if applicable).
- Performance measured as to progress toward goal of 25 percent reduction in prison commitments from eligible non-violent offender population.
Local plans are reviewed and applications for implementation funding are scored according to completeness and accuracy with respect to the following elements:
For more information, please contact Mary Ann Dyar, Program Administrator, at maryann.dyar@illinois.gov.
