2024 Collaborative Opening Remarks

Monday, April 8, 2024 at 9:30am – Chicago, IL

Welcome. I’m sure you all heard about a spectacular special event happening here in Illinois today. It’s been in the news. No, not the solar eclipse, though I suspect that will be quite the event – but I am of course talking about the 2024 Collaborative. We are grateful for everyone’s attendance today and for the work that each of you does every day to advance criminal legal system reform in Illinois, and your work to improve the reentry experiences of our fellow residents.

The Collaborative, as some of you may well know, is a one-day event that the Illinois Justice Project has hosted for 15 years — although we took a break from the event for COVID. We host the Collaborative in partnership with the public, advocacy, government, and policymaking communities. The event is designed to develop?and share with a broad audience rigorous research and analysis on the status of our collective work, and generate thoughtful discussions of policy goals to improve the criminal legal system and the lives of people who experience it.

This year, we are gathered to tackle one of our most pressing criminal legal system reform topics: Reentry. We have a packed agenda lined up for today, where we will discuss the systemic problems that interfere with a person's successful return from incarceration which must be addressed, the work being done by partners to advance access to affordable housing and reentry support services, and the rise of formerly incarcerated people to government leadership posts where they influence policy about reentry.

It is fitting that we come together in community today, as April marks Second Chance Month. We are also two weeks away from the five-year anniversary of the Cook County Just Housing Ordinance’s passage. And since 2017, April has been marked as Second Chance Month – which is a nationwide effort to raise awareness of the permanent punishments of a criminal conviction and to unlock second chance opportunities for people who have completed their sentences to be restored as returned members of our communities.

Reentry is a widespread topic that affects millions of people. Each year, more than 600,000 people are released from federal and state prisons across the country and 9 million more cycle in and out of jails. The number of Americans with an arrest or conviction record has risen sharply over the past three decades.

Today, nearly one-third of the adult working age population has an arrest or conviction record. In Illinois alone, 4.1 million people have an arrest or conviction record, and 96% of people inside prisons eventually return to society. If all arrested Americans were a nation, they would be the world’s 18th largest. Larger than Canada. Larger than France. And more than three times the size of Australia.

We all know the conditions that have led to these astronomical and unacceptable numbers: children growing up in disinvested communities, ravaged by guns and the war on drugs, low performing schools—leaving children who are not expelled with diplomas whose value in the economy is diminishing, families destroyed by over-incarceration, and a criminal legal system in which a person of color is seven times more likely to be moved deeper into the system than a white person.

And we know that for too long, the process of setting people up to return to society started and ended with $100 and a bus ticket. For too many, it still does.

People don't get the education and training they need to find gainful employment. Half of the people exiting our state prison system will only be employed for just three months during their first three years out of prison. They are not receiving the opportunities for upward economic mobility; not healing from the traumas. Nor do they and their support system receive the resources needed to transition home.

Everyone on mandatory supervised release – which is our very imperfect version of parole – leaves with an address of residence, but that isn't always a stable place to stay. It could be a family member's house, where the economic stress of the household is already high before another member is added.

Doors are repeatedly and systematically closed. Background check policies used by landlords, by employers, by educational opportunities, and more, permit them to screen out returning residents. They often don't consider the mitigating factors, the other side of the story – like the time lapsed since the offense, whether or not the offense is relevant to the career the person is applying for, nor provide any opportunity for a person with a record to share their own story and demonstrate their growth and rehabilitation. Sometimes, the crime that is being held against a person is no longer even a crime.

Employment and stable housing are crucial indicators of a person's likelihood of returning to prison. Sometimes, people are sent back to prison as being unhoused as a violation of MSR. Other times, people may go back to making some very difficult and harmful decisions, just to make ends meet.?And so, we can see that the system isn't working.

38% of people released from IDOC return within 3 years – that's nearly four out of every ten people. Each person that returns to prison costs taxpayers more than $150,000 to be returned—and close to another $40,000 for every year they spend in prison. Taxpayers are investing $1.5 billion a year on a system which fails four out of ten people within three years. Individuals, families, and communities also bear an exorbitant human cost with the separation and loss of loved ones, relatives, parents and caretakers.

People leaving prison have served their time. They have paid their debt to society. And we, in return, owe them a chance to start anew. That is what a second chance is. That is the social contract for the American criminal legal system and our society’s institutions, or at least what the social contract ought to be.

Across Illinois, a lot of good work is happening, thanks to the tireless efforts of everyone in this room.

The title of today’s event: Maximizing the Moment: What are the Next Steps for Illinois Reentry? aims to explore the gravity and the opportunity of the moment that we are in, and how, as a community of policy makers, advocates, and concerned Illinois residents we can ensure that state and local governments meet their obligation to create and invest in effective reentry policies and practices that are grounded in principles of restoration, equity, dignity, and opportunity.

I emphasize the word obligation because I sincerely believe that this work is about addressing the leading civil rights issue of our time – reentry – peoples' rights and opportunities in employment, housing, education, social services, financial support; engaging in private, public, and civic life unobstructed, and fully free. These among other opportunities are owed to returning residents and required for them to be fully empowered.

The fundamental question for us is what are we going to do to restore the humanity and dignity, eliminate obstacles to reentry, and to create equitable opportunities and supports for the people and communities most impacted by mass incarceration? Addressing this question requires organization for collective action, human and financial resources, smart and effective policy made and implemented in the spirit of love for our neighbors, fair and humane storytelling, hope and faith.

Like me, sometimes you may read and watch the news with dismay and concern. I know that sometimes it can feel like history is repeating itself in ways that make us a little queasy or give us whiplash. It’s as if we are fighting the returning tide on criminal legal system reform. But still, I am hopeful. I believe that you should be hopeful. We have many good reasons to be hopeful and proud of the progress we have made as a community of practice.

And during times like these, it is essential that we remember our past successes and where we have been, because when we reflect on our successes, we find inspiration and strength through the power of their example, and because the stakeholders and incentives that oppose our progress need only our own despair to take us all backwards.

You know during the Civil Rights movement, our elders and ancestors frequently convened, like we are today, to unplug from the day-to-day struggle, to gather, fellowship, and take stock of where they had been, and where they needed to go. They talked about the successes, challenges, and opportunities for the movement. And by connecting with each other in-person, they found inspiration and shared best practices.

Now virtual meetings, Zoom and Microsoft Teams, were not a thing back then. They strategized and coordinated in places like the Highlander Center in the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee, the Big Bethel A.M.E. Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and even Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church in Chicago.

Yes, they gathered in houses of worship, in basements, community centers, public libraries, and schools. And like them, we are gathered today. . . in a bank. And not just in any bank, but the bank of all banks in the city of all American cities. And despite the ironies associated with the choice of venue for our convening today in comparison to theirs’, their struggle to tear down the walls of state sanctioned racial discrimination in America is similar to our struggle to eliminate permanent punishments and create a diverse, equitable, and inclusive America for people impacted by the criminal legal system and for those of us who stand in solidarity with them. These struggles are branches of the same tree.

I am hopeful about our future because we have already proven that we can make progress through government shutdowns, austerity, and abundance. And I have eight examples of our progress to share that should give you hope too.

One. The success of the Restore, Reinvest, and Renew (R3) Program, through which the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority released 10.1 million dollars for reentry programming just last year alone. There used to be a time in Illinois when there was no sustained community level funding source for reentry services and initiatives.

Two. The Illinois Housing Development Authority’s Housing for Justice-Involved Individuals program awarded twelve million dollars in the first round of funding, creating 348 new and rehabbed beds; And through the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services, the SPRING Forward program allocated twenty million dollars for housing and employment support services for people leaving IDOC and Cook County Jail. Five or six years ago, there was no public sector funding designated for the specific creation of permanent and transitional housing for people exiting prison. Affordable housing champions like King Harris made successes like these possible.

Three. The fifth Community Reentry Support Center was just opened in the City of Chicago some months ago. For years, we only had two reentry support centers on the north and south sides of Chicago, respectively, and none on the west side of Chicago whose zip codes see more people enter and exit the state prison system than any other part of the state of Illinois. Willette Benford and Alderman Burnett, Jr. fought for and secured those changes.

Four. Last year, we saw the City’s commitment to reentry move from temporary ARPA funding to a sustainable five million dollars for reentry programs funded by city cannabis tax revenues. The Black and Progressive Caucuses in Chicago’s City Council made that possible through champions like Alderman Burnett, Alderwoman Hadden, Alderman Martin, Mayor Johnson, and everyone’s favorite Deputy Mayor Garien Gatewood.

Five. The Cook County Justice Advisory Council, in partnership with the Housing Authority of Cook County, launched the Cook County Reconnect program. Using $23 million in ARPA funding, this program provides rental assistance and support services for people who have left IDOC custody within the last 2 years. We didn’t have this before. Of course, we must work to renew funding because it is ARPA funded. But thank you, President Preckwinkle.

Six. Significantly, the Chicago Continuum of Care, which supports Chicago’s unhoused residents, has recognized the need to make its policies and practices more equitable for returning residents. Today, they are working with Illinois Reentry Council members to design and implement goals and priorities that will lead to housing for people returning to Chicago from prisons and jails. Thank you to people like Richard Rowe and other members of the Lived Experience Commission who called for change because forty percent of unhoused adults in Chicago are returning residents.

Seven. Through our collective actions as advocates, public administrators, and practitioners in venues such as the Illinois Reentry Council, the Coalition to End Permanent Punishments, the Chicago Interagency Reentry Council, Justice 20/20, the Alliance for Reentry and Justice, and the Supportive Reentry Network Collaborative, we have exercised our collective power and skill to make further progress through policy, program, and legislative change.

Eight. We have many formerly incarcerated people leading coalitions, and direct service and advocacy organizations, and serving in senior positions in government. I remind you that in this work not long ago, we did not center their lived experiences nor give them the seat at the decision-making tables, to which they are entitled and essential.

I could list more examples, and I apologize if there are some that are important to you that were not mentioned. But I shared the examples for three reasons:

First, to make the empirical case that we should feel hopeful today. The Illinois Reentry Council’s 2023 Annual Report, which is in the event materials, lists far more accomplishments and I encourage you to review them.

Second, to remind us that we are not alone in this work – we have each other, which is necessary. And much is possible when we work together, collaboratively.

And third, to underscore the point that this is a special moment in history and an inflection point for our work. We have a lot of momentum going in our favor. But yall, we need to seize this moment.

We should feel proud of our progress, hopeful about our future. We are not satisfied. And whatever lies ahead before us, let us be hopeful because we have the power to address those challenges.

How do we maximize this moment? That is the question that we are going to answer together throughout this convening today. So many of the people in this room have been part of these stories of success and continue to work towards this progress.

Our speakers and panelists are experts in this work, and we are excited to hear from them today.

Let’s do this.