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OFFICE OF THE STATE'S ATTORNEY
LAKE COUNTY, ILLINOIS
MICHAEL G. NERHEIM
STATE'S ATTORNEY
 March 03, 2016
For Immediate Release
Contact: Cynthia Vargas
(847) 377-3188
cvargas@lakecountyil.gov
Illinois Law Enforcement Leaders:
State Budget Impasse Endangers Public Safety
Presidents of chiefs, sheriffs, &
state’s attorneys associations among voices
urging immediate action to protect kids, communities
(Springfield, IL March 03, 2016) A news conference was held yesterday to announce that as
Illinois enters its ninth month without an FY2016 budget, the presidents of three major law enforcement associations joined
with other police chiefs, sheriffs, and state’s attorneys to stress: Public safety is being compromised by the erosion of
services proven to help curb
crime and violence. The law enforcement leaders gathered at a statehouse news
conference Wednesday, calling on
Governor Rauner and state leaders to immediately resolve the budget impasse and
fund essential youth programs that help fight crime in their communities.
“This
Springfield deadlock is sidelining some of the most effective, research-‐proven
tools we have for ensuring at-‐risk
youngsters get off to the best start in life – and avoid later involvement in crime and violence,” said Park Ridge Police
Chief Frank Kaminski, who also is President of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police. “It’s
time to do something different.”
The lack
of a state budget has forced dozens of non-‐profit agencies across Illinois to
cut back significantly on staffing
and important services, and many have already gone out of business. Included are many programs for kids and youth –
programs that law enforcement leaders consider
key to protecting public safety:
·
Redeploy
Illinois – which provides cheaper and
more effective alternatives to prison for juvenile
offenders. More than half of participating counties have already left the
program, representing 275 youths no longer receiving services – and
representing the equivalent of a 40% spike in our juvenile-‐prison population.
·
Comprehensive
Community-‐Based Youth Services – which
provides crisis-‐intervention and
family-‐reunification help for about 7,000 youths, including runaways, kids
deemed beyond parents’ control, and
those in immediate physical danger. Surveys indicate more than half of programs have cut staff and/or access
to services, with more planning to follow suit –
leaving hundreds of youths more likely to be incarcerated or referred to the Department of Children and Family Services.
“We
learned long ago that addressing the root causes of juvenile crime reduces
recidivism. But the budget impasse is removing tools from the toolbox we rely
on as prosecutors,” remarked St. Clair County
State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly, President of the Illinois State’s Attorneys Association. “In fact, if all of these
young people who had been in Redeploy were to end up
back in our youth prisons – a prospect I really don’t want to even contemplate
– the cost to the state would
exceed $30 million.”
·
Teen
REACH – after-‐school programs
representing safe and educational alternatives to the streets during “prime time for juvenile crime.”
More than 1,800 youths already have lost access
due to the closure of programs from Peoria to Danville and Rockford to Franklin
County – about one out of every eight
youths who recently were helped by Teen REACH. This is especially troubling when another key out-‐of-‐school-‐time
effort – child care help for low-‐ income,
working families –has yet to recover from deep cuts in the opening months of
FY16.
“It
pains me as a prosecutor and someone committed to crime prevention and
opportunities for young people to say that
even the most basic crime-‐prevention efforts, like after-‐school programs, have received no state funding at all this
fiscal year,” said Lake County State’s Attorney Mike Nerheim.
·
“Parent-‐coaching”
programs – help for the new parents of
at-‐risk infants and toddlers, reducing
child abuse and neglect, among other positive results. These home-‐visiting programs are shutting down statewide – risking the
loss of $40 million in federal funding for services helping 6,000 families statewide.
“State
leaders have heeded our advice over the years-‐ creating programs like after-‐school,
youth crisis intervention, and
child abuse prevention programs. But now, all of that is in jeopardy,” commented Peoria County Sheriff Mike McCoy,
incoming President of the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association. “The General Assembly and the Governor must find a way,
immediately, to resolve this
impasse.”
“Failure
to fund these programs is not inevitable, it is a choice,” added Union
County State’s Attorney
Tyler Edmonds. “And it is a choice that is
putting an enormous burden on our jails, courtrooms,
and police.”
FY2017 deliberations have already begun, with the
introduction of Governor Rauner’s budget proposal
and appropriations hearings in the Senate. The law enforcement leaders did
applaud the Governor’s support for
strengthening the state preschool program in the coming year, but emphasized that resolution of the FY16 budget
impasse needs to be the immediate priority.
Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel, Morgan County
Sheriff Randy Duvendack, and LaSalle County Sheriff Tom Templeton, current
President of the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association, also participated in the news conference.
The news
conference was organized by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Illinois, an anti-‐crime
membership organization of more than 350 police chiefs, sheriffs, state’s attorneys,
and other law enforcement leaders.
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Lake County State's Attorney's Office 18 N. County Street Waukegan, IL 60085 Phone: (847) 377-3000
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