Juvenile Justice in Illinois: A Data Snapshot

This new report provides an overview of juvenile justice in Illinois. This is not a research report but is intended to offer a brief primer for those who want to better understand how many young people across the state come to the attention of the criminal punishment system

We're in it for the Long Haul: Alternatives to Incarceration for Youth in Conflict with the Law

This paper specifically addresses five programs in Chicago that provide alternatives to incarceration for young people charged with or convicted of crimes. Included in this exploration are issues of cost, effectiveness, capacity, and the needs of youth and organizations moving forward

Policing Chicago Public Schools: A Gateway to the School-to-Prison Pipeline

"Policing Chicago Public Schools: A Gateway to the School-to-Prison Pipeline" relies on data from the Chicago Police Department (CPD) to show (for the first time in seven years) the type of offenses and the demographics (gender, age and race) of the juveniles arrested on CPS properties in calendar year 2010

2009 Rogers Park Juvenile Justice Snapshot

This is the first of its kind neighborhood-specific annual report of juvenile justice data. This report was released as part of Project NIA's Chicago Youth Justice Data Initiative that was launched in November 2011. We are hoping to release similar neighborhood-specific data reports in the coming years. Our next community of focus will be North Lawndale. This report contains data on community-specific juvenile arrests, probation, and detention

Arresting Justice Vol 3: A Visual Report of Chicago Juvenile Arrests, 2013 and 2014

In June 2011, we published Arresting Justice: A Report about Juvenile Arrests in Chicago, 2009 & 2010 (http://arrestjustice.wordpress.com/) along with our partners at First Defense Legal Aid. Since then, we have continued to analyze and publish data about juvenile arrests in Chicago.This is a visual report of Chicago Juvenile Arrests in 2013 and 2014. The report was designed by Rachel Hoffman

Arresting Justice Vol 3: Juvenile Arrests in Chicago, 2013 and 2014

In June 2011, we published Arresting Justice: A Report about Juvenile Arrests in Chicago, 2009 & 2010 (http://arrestjustice.wordpress.com/) along with our partners at First Defense Legal Aid. Since then, we have continued to analyze and publish data about juvenile arrests in Chicago.This detailed report includes data on Chicago juvenile arrests in 2013 and 2014

2010 Rogers Park Juvenile Justice Snapshot

This is the second Rogers Park Juvenile Justice Snapshot published by Project NIA. This report focuses on juvenile justice data from 2010 and 2011 to offer a portrait of youth in conflict with the law in Rogers Park

Arresting Justice: Juvenile Arrests in Chicago 2009 & 2010

Six million Americans a year have involuntary contact with the police, excluding traffic stops (Weaver and Lerman, 2010). These encounters are often especially fraught and traumatizing for youth. Young people of color, in particular, have spoken out eloquently about the unwanted contacts with police in their communities.In Chicago, thousands of juveniles are arrested every year by law enforcement. There are six possible decision points1 in the interaction between police and young people. Police have the power to decide the following:Whether to conduct an investigatory stop involving a young person;Whether to arrest a young person;Whether to release a young person from police custody with a station adjustment;Whether to refer a young person to Juvenile Court or to the Felony Review Division of the Cook County State's Attorney's Office for prosecution;Whether to release a young person from police custody with no charges; andWhether to request that a young person be held in detention until his initial court appearance. Each of these decision points involves the police officers' use of discretion. These points of contact determine whether or not a particular young person will ultimately be referred to court and held in detention.While we know that thousands of young people in Chicago come into contact with law enforcement daily, there is no broad-based public outcry over this reality. Arresting Justice is an attempt to provide relevant, timely and accessible data about juvenile arrests to community members in Chicago in the hopes of spurring action. The sponsors of this report are First Defense Legal Aid and Project NIA.First Defense Legal Aid (FDLA) has been dedicated to issues of indigent defense, police accountability, and the protection of civil rights for over 15 years. FDLA's mission is two-pronged: to ensure equal justice to people in custody at Chicago Police stations and to educate the people of Chicago about the power of their Constitutional rights during police encounters.Project NIA's mission is to dramatically reduce the reliance on arrest, detention, and incarceration for addressing youth crime and to instead promote the use of restorative and transformative practices, a concept that relies on community-based alternatives. Through community engagement, education, participatory action research, and capacity-building, Project NIA facilitates the creation of community-focused responses to violence and crime.Both organizations believe that the first step to dramatically reducing juvenile arrests in Chicago is to mobilize our broader community to address the problem. Timely and relevant data documenting the scope of the issue is critical to such mobilization efforts. We hope that this report serves as a clarion call to those who are interested in preventing youth from getting caught up in the juvenile and criminal legal systems

Mandatory Minimums and Guns: Opinions from Illinois

Project NIA carried out an online survey from November 20 through November 29. 571 responses were collected from across Illinois. The following is a report that outlines the findings from the surveys. The survey shows strong public opposition to SB 1342, a mandatory minimum gun bill proposed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel & awaiting a vote by the Illinois General Assembly

Status of Girls in Illinois: Executive Summary

CURL formed a partnership with Women and Girls' Collective Action Network and Chicago Girls' Coalition to conduct a secondary data analysis to determine how young women and girls are faring in Illinois. This project aims to provide statistical evidence that will inform on the issues, needs, and solutions required to ensure the healthy development of all young women and girls in Illinois