Juveniles who participated in a Cook County court program that defers prosecution while offering social services were charged with new criminal offenses at lower rates than their peers, according to an independent study released Thursday.
The findings of the evaluation, conducted by research group Chapin Hall, were embraced by stakeholders during a time when city, county and state officials are grappling with crime and violence, even as it has lessened in recent years.
The program was launched as a pilot in 2020 by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, Office of the Chief Judge and other partners during the COVID-19 pandemic at a time when the court system was looking for ways to address turmoil and delays. It seeks to treat the root causes of crime for a population that the system is meant to reform rather than punish.
Instead of traditional prosecution, eligible youth are connected to services such as counseling and education. If they successfully complete the program, prosecutors dismiss the case.
“Early service referrals and interventions in the juvenile space is really important,” said First Assistant State’s Attorney Craig Engebretson, who previously was chief of the Juvenile Justice Bureau. “It is really beneficial to make the handoff to service providers as quickly as possible.”
The Chapin study examined 144 participants between 2022 and 2023 during a time when the initiative expanded beyond a pilot program.
The study found that 18% of participants picked up a new charge, in contrast to 28% of a comparison group.
The review also found high participation among the juveniles referred to the program, with 85% graduating and nearly all successfully hooking up with at least one community-based service.
“What these results suggest is that this program is successful in … getting youth and families the needed services and supports, and helping them to remain out of the juvenile legal system,” said Gretchen Cusick, a senior research fellow at Chapin Hall.
During the evaluation period, 125 prosecutions were avoided, according to the study.
Researchers also interviewed juvenile participants as part of the study. Cusick said researchers spoke to young people who saw their situation as a wake-up call.
“Their experience and positive reinforcement helped them to see themselves as a person and not a criminal,” she said.
The study’s findings echo other evaluations that have highlighted reduced recidivism in separate programs that offer alternatives to formal prosecution.
In 2023, an internal study of county restorative justice courts by the Office of the Chief Judge found lesser incidents of new charges among participants of that program, which targets a slightly older population of young adults. Referrals, though, have lagged after the state’s attorney’s office made changes in who it would allow to participate.
Throughout the past year, the state’s attorney’s office has made clear it is seeking detentions and tougher sentences in certain gun cases, at times clashing with other county agencies.
Engebretson said the office’s screening criteria for juveniles did not allow for involvement of violent crimes. Juveniles are eligible if they are first-time offenders charged with a nonviolent felony or serious misdemeanor.
Most of the participants in the study were charged with gun possession offenses.
In a statement, State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke celebrated the study’s results.
“Tested, innovative solutions that prevent young people from reoffending and entering the adult criminal justice system will lead to less crime in our communities and provide effective alternatives to prosecution at a pivotal inflection point in a young person’s trajectory,” she said.
The program is currently funded through a grant that runs through 2026, which Engebretson said offers time to continue to develop the program, as studies of its efficacy continue.
“We have a significant amount of time to work on the program, develop it and institutionalize it,” he said, “and it also gives us a length of time where we can see how can we transition this (if necessary) from a grant-support program.”