McLean County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council met April 20.
Here are the minutes provided by the council:
Chief Judge Casey Costigan welcomed everyone to the meeting. This is a joint meeting with the Juvenile Justice Commission. The departments represented made introductions of those attending. Judge Costigan introduced Suzanne Montoya, Director of McLean County Court Services, who replaces Mike Donovan who retired on April 14, 2023.
ISU Stevenson Center Report
Dr. Frank Beck gave a summary of the research being conducted:
o There are several mental health indicators in EJS – the arresting officer indicates that the defendant may have a “mental problem risk” at the point of arrest or
o The individual self-reports by responding with a “yes” to one or more of the following at booking. There is no specified time frame for the onset or occurrence of the self-reported measures and they remain attached to the individual’s Person_ID for that particular booking. The self-reported indicators are:
Mental Illness
Attempted Suicide
Hurting Yourself
Previous Mental Problems
Psychiatric Treatment
Irrational
o Jail staff “places” someone as mentally ill, suicidal, or low-functioning. This placement can be used to justify separation from the general population and originates from interactions with jail staff. ISU created the indicator “MI” (which stands for mental issue) to account for this placement in the data.
o ISU also tracks the use caution codes that can be recorded by anyone in the criminal justice system, at any time. Caution codes let others know to be cautious and aware of certain behaviors. There are several kinds of caution codes like “known gang member,” “drug user,” or “violent”. The caution codes we used were for Mental Health and Suicide. If someone had either a caution code for Mental Health or Suicide recorded, they were flagged as having a mental health issue. Once a caution code is entered for a person it remains attached to their Person_ID.
When the initial data from 2002 was studied, approximately 75% of persons incarcerated in the McLean County Jail did not report or have reported a mental illness. Over the past 15-18 years, the jail now reports approximately 50% of all bookings report a mental illness or indicator.
Additionally, as the jail is increasingly used for felony cases, the length of stay has increased, and those with a mental illness have seen a proportional increase in length of stay. This is reflected in the bookings from the last three calendar years:
• 2020-2022, there were 4,470 bookings into MCDF where there is an indication of a mental health issue
• 1/3 of these bookings were for women
• 1/3 of these bookings were of African Americans
• 3,000 of the 4,470 bookings did not include a drug charge
• The average length of stay was 21 days, but 806 were in and out in a day and 1,641 spent one night in the MCDF
Judge Costigan reminded the group that a report of a mental health issue does not equate to a status of unfit to stand trial. That is a legal standard that has to be met through a formal evaluation (see 725 ILCS 5/104-10 – 725 ILCS 5/104-27).
ISU Research on Emerging Adults
During the period of 2010-2019 approximately 50% of all defendants booked were under the age of 26. In the past three years (2020-2022), that has decreased rapidly – in 2022 25% of all defendants were under the age of 26.
The criteria for entering the emerging adult probation program are to have a felony case, be under the age of 26, and be evaluated as moderate or high risk. There are approximately 105 persons in the program and the supervision is similar to a juvenile case.
Behavioral Health Coordinating Council
Kevin McCall gave an update on the FUSE program – they are offering case management services to 15 individuals , but only take persons who have been evaluated independently (not direct referrals).
The BHCC is gearing up for the community behavioral health forum – there will be a kick-off meeting on April 26 with a focus on 1st responder contacts. The community forum will be held in October.
The BHCC and McLean County are working with several community groups and volunteers on the updated Mental Health Action Plan. There are four subcommittees:
o Crisis
o Youth (21 and under)
o Access to Medical Services and Medical Management
o Housing
The full plan can be found at: https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/1482/Mental-Health-Action-Plan
Susan Schafer discussed the information she received at the NACo Familiar Faces Leadership Council meeting in Kansas City, KS. At the meeting there was a lengthy review of the Johnson County, KS justice information systems information sharing and data mapping project. That study can be found at https://www.naco.org/blog/familiar-faces-initiative-case-study-johnson-county-kan Ms. Schafer will also be presenting on the topic at the June BHCC meeting.
Jail Population and Staffing Update
Sheriff Matt Lane gave a summary of the decision regarding housing out 52 inmates in LaSalle County due to staffing issues. The Sheriff is confident that the most recent contract (approved on April 14) and other hiring and training efforts will solve the problem in approximately 4-6 months. The Jail will need to hire 24-28 persons to return to full staffing. The goal is to return all persons to McLean County by August.
He reviewed the delays in transporting to the IDOC and IDHS facilities – approximately the same number of persons are housed out as need to be transported. A brief discussion ensued.
Family Treatment Court
McLean County’s current Juvenile Courts are separated between delinquent minors and abused/neglected minors (child protection division). A single judge presides over the child protection division and makes all decisions regarding the well-being of the involved children and families. The court works with several child welfare agencies, including the Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS), the Babyfold and the Center for Youth & Family Solutions (CYFS). The Court also has contact with child welfare agencies located outside of McLean County. Further, the Court will have contact with certain treatment providers that provide treatment for a myriad of issues, including substance abuse, domestic violence, mental health and parenting. Those agency services are not structured the same from one agency to another.
McLean County has obtained a planning grant to determine if we have an adequate infrastructure to establish a Family Treatment Court and to determine whether there is adequate cooperation from court and agency personnel, as the Family Treatment Court requires the intensive collaborative efforts of child welfare, the court, treatment providers, and other community agencies to make this vision possible. Further, the Court is working to assess whether we have the resources to improve the safety, health, and well-being of families affected by substance use disorders (SUD).
The planning group has hosted a kick-off event and conducted both a virtual and in-person site visit to a peer court in Indiana. Both of these visits have helped guide the McLean County efforts in developing a treatment court. The group hopes an implementation grant will be awarded in August for FFY 2024.
Case Management System
Craig Nelson, Director of Information Technologies, provided a summary of the four (4) projects:
a. Records Management System (RMS) – a contract has been awarded to Caliber Public Safety. They believe implementation of a new system is possible by the end of 2023.
b. Jail Management System (JMS) – a contract is awarded to Atims with a kick-off event on April 26. The software will manage both the jail and juvenile detention center. The implementation will take approximately 18 months (completed by September 2024).
c. Court Case Management System (CMS) – a contract was awarded to Journal Technologies Inc. The current development is working on case structure and financial structures. The go live date is early 2025.
d. Integration software (Boomi) – in development, implementation to be determined. Pretrial Fairness Act
Judge Costigan reported that the case regarding the constitutionality of the statute is still pending before the Supreme Court. A decision is expected within 30-45 days.
Juvenile Justice Commission
Suzanne Montoya reviewed some of the current initiatives, including the summer jobs program. Persons needing referrals should contact YouthBuild, McLean County.
Next meeting: Thursday, July 20, 2023 at 12:00 noon.
https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/9513
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