A RESOLUTION TO CALL FOR A CITY, COUNTY, AND STATE TASK FORCE TO REDUCE
RECIDIVISM
WHEREAS, there is a disproportionate number of people living with mental illness who are arrested in the City of Chicago; and
WHEREAS, Cook County Jail has been reported as an institution housing the highest number of people with mental illness in the United States; and
WHEREAS, the Illinois Department of Corrections also reports high rates of recidivism, with forty-eight percent of adult inmates and fifty-four percent of juveniles released from incarceration returning within three years, only to perpetuate a vicious and costly cycle of recidivism; and
WHEREAS, studies from the Center For Evidence-Based Practices also report higher rates of jail recidivism among people with co-occurring severe, mental illness and substance use, disorders; and
WHEREAS, some people with severe mental illness are released from incarceration with no : official identification in hand, no source of income or funds in place, no support system in place, no immediate access to psychotropic medications, and no housing in place; and .
WHEREAS, without needed resources and a plan of care in place, people with severe mental illness who are released from incarceration are at much higher risk for getting rearrested; and
WHEREAS, there are ho incentives in place for the criminal justice system to reduce recidivism of repeat offenders, some with hundreds of arrests; and
WHEREAS, this very complex issue of reducing jail recidivism involves local, county, and state governments working together to create a collaborative plan that will reduce jail recidivism among repeat offenders, especially those living with a co-occurring severe mental illness and substance use disorders; and
WHEREAS, the financial costs of repeated jail recidivism continue to grow and limits our ability to provide more preventative care,
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that a task force made up of members from the City of Chicago's Department...
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