093_SR0139
LRB093 11695 HSS 15358 r
1 SENATE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, Drug use and addiction continue to be one of the
3 major contributing factors to the perpetration of criminal
4 activity in Illinois communities; and
5 WHEREAS, The Cook County State's Attorney's Office has
6 begun an Offender Accountability Initiative that will provide
7 substance abuse screening, assessment, and treatment
8 alternatives to every offender sentenced to probation in Cook
9 County demonstrating drug use or addiction, the goal being to
10 intervene in the cycle of drug use and criminal behavior; and
11 WHEREAS, The Offender Accountability initiative stands as
12 a national model strategy for collaboration and the
13 development of broad-based approaches for providing substance
14 abuse interventions to large numbers of drug-involved
15 offenders in urban criminal justice settings; and
16 WHEREAS, The impact of the Offender Accountability
17 Initiative will significantly inform criminal justice and
18 drug policy practice and procedure in Illinois, as well as
19 nationally; therefore, be it
20 RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL
21 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the Department of
22 Human Services shall convene a Task Force to evaluate the
23 impact of the Cook County Offender Accountability Initiative;
24 the Task Force shall consist of the Associate Director of the
25 Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, or his or her
26 designee, who shall serve as co-chair; the Cook County
27 State's Attorney, or his or her designee, who shall serve as
28 co-chair; the presiding judge of the Criminal Division of the
29 Cook County Circuit Court; a representative from the Cook
30 County probation department; the president of TASC, Inc.; and
31 the president or executive director of a drug abuse treatment
32 provider in Cook County, to be named by the Office of
-2- LRB093 11695 HSS 15358 r
1 Alcoholism and Substance Abuse; and be it further
2 RESOLVED, That the purpose of the Task Force shall be to
3 evaluate the impact of the program initiated by the Cook
4 County State's Attorney's Office wherein all eligible
5 probationers are screened for substance abuse and given
6 access to education, intervention, and treatment services;
7 the Task Force shall examine, along with any other issues it
8 chooses to investigate with respect to this program, the
9 following issues: (1) the numbers of offenders who
10 participate in this program, and the type and manner of
11 services they receive, (2) the impact of the program on
12 caseloads and case processing in the Cook County criminal
13 justice system, (3) the impact of the program on the Cook
14 County substance abuse intervention and treatment system, (4)
15 the impact of the program in terms of reduction or increase
16 in rearrest rates, violations of probation, drug use of
17 participants, and other factors pertaining to recidivism, and
18 (5) the financial impact of the system on all involved
19 parties and recommendations for funding to support the
20 program; and be it further
21 RESOLVED, That the the members of the Task Force, at
22 their discretion, may involve additional skilled experts and
23 enlist additional members and support staff; and be it
24 further
25 RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall convene at least one
26 public hearing on or before September 1, 2003, to present its
27 research methodology and strategic plan for evaluation of the
28 program, and to entertain public testimony; and be it further
29 RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall report its
30 preliminary findings to the General Assembly on or before
31 June 30, 2004, at which point further direction shall be
32 given by the General Assembly.