title
PROPOSED GRANT AWARD
Department: Office of the Chief Judge, Circuit Court of Cook County
Grantee: The Office of the Chief Judge, on behalf of Cook County
Grantor: John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Request: Authorization to accept grant
Purpose: The Cook County Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC): Seeks to reduce the Cook County Jail population while targeting racial and ethnic disparities that exist within the criminal justice system
Grant Amount: $1,450,000
Grant Period: 1/1/2022-12/31/2023
Fiscal Impact: None
Accounts: N/A
Concurrences:
The Budget Department has received all requisite documents and determined the fiscal impact on Cook County, if any.
Summary: The Cook County Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC) is an initiative funded by the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation which seeks to safely reduce the jail population and address racial and ethnic disparities within the criminal justice system. SJC has been awarded a $1.45 million grant to address the program goals over a two-year period. The award supplements the current program award of $2.5 million, which expires in September 2022. As the program administrator, the Office of the Chief Judge will work in collaboration with the Justice Advisory Council, Clerk of the Circuit Court, State’s Attorney, Public Defender, Sheriff, Cook County Health and Hospitals System, and the Chicago Police Department.
The funding will be utilized to implement multiple strategies including establishment of relationships with community residents through dialogue, criminal case reviews to analyze and identify patterns and opportunities to increase efficiency within the system, treatment referrals and linkage for defendants with long prior histories, expansion of current diversion programs for emerging adults with drug offenses, addressing warrants, and implementation of data integration to facilitate exchanges and analysis between county stakeholders and to support data driven decision making. These strategies will be implemented with a focus on addressing racial equity in the criminal justice system.
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