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 no 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 of Family & Sup...
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