* We’ve crossed over into the surreal…

TO: Governor Bruce Rauner
Speaker of the House Michael J. Madigan
Senate President Cullerton

FROM: Jeffrey B. Ford, President, at the request of The Board of Directors of the Illinois Association of Problem-Solving Courts (ILAPSC)

RE: Effects of Budget Delay

DATE: November 12, 2015

We write to express our concerns about the effects which the delay in passing a state budget has on our membership and the clients they serve. The ILAPSC is a multi-disciplinary, statewide organization whose mission is to provide education, assistance, training and development through collaboration of behavioral health and justice systems. Our Board consists of four judges, one state’s attorney, one current and one retired public defender, two TASC directors, four members of court services, three directors of Problem-Solving Courts in their counties, one drug court coordinator, one representative from NAMI, a county mental health board director and one mental health court graduate. Geographically we are from as far north as McHenry and Winnebago Counties, as far west as Rock Island and Madison Counties, as far east as Cook and Champaign Counties and as far south as Marion and Wabash Counties. Our recent conference was attended by 483 people with even more diversity in occupations and geography than our board.

Currently, the State of Illinois has 62 Drug Courts, 25 Mental Health Courts, 18 Veterans Courts and 2 DUI Courts. Each Problem-Solving Court partners with the social service agencies in their area to provide the treatment and social support that each defendant needs to succeed. The Problem-Solving Court Team, including appropriate professionals from local service agencies, works out an individual treatment plan for each defendant. Most of these agencies depend on state funding for many of the services they provide.

It is important to note that we make no statement regarding the politics and policy differences involved in the budget delay. We understand that you are working diligently to try to resolve these differences. However, while this process continues, important aspects of daily life in Illinois are threatened. The work of each of Illinois’ Problem-Solving Courts (PSCs) is to help our citizens avoid incarceration by monitoring their progress while they receive treatment, counseling and other services. Research has shown that if the correct population is targeted by PSCs, these Courts can save money and reduce recidivism. By funding the services necessary to continue the work of Illinois’ PSCs, we become, as a state, smart on crime.

Unfortunately, because of the delay in passing a State budget, many of these agencies are being forced to cut services, lay off staff, close intake and even, in some cases, close their doors altogether. Many are expending their cash reserves to continue to provide the services their clients need while others are forced to take out lines of credit. Because banks will only offer lines of credit if they are assured they will be honored, the current budget delay calls into question the social service agencies’ ability to repay those loans.

The Governor has a stated goal of reducing the prison population by 25% over the next ten years, and has appointed a commission to recommend ways to make this happen. We applaud this effort. But the Commission’s own Initial Report notes, “Alternatives to incarceration, as well as efforts to reduce recidivism, will require a focus on community treatment programs, particularly those involving substance abuse and mental health.” The report also states that over the past several years funding for state mental health and substance abuse treatment has been declining. The report was issued July 1 of this year, well before the lack of a state budget reduced that funding even further.

Without the financial support of a full and comprehensive budget, Illinois’ PSCs cannot do their job. Instead of saving money and reducing crime, the current situation will (1) increase costs associated with crime (including costs to victims, the costs of the justice system and the costs of incarceration), (2) increase the number of children involved in the juvenile justice and foster care systems and (3) some of our citizens will continue to sink further into addiction and mental illness.

As State leaders, we call upon you to redouble your efforts to bring an end to the budget delay, work together to repair the damage done and strive to bind up the State’s wounds caused by this delay so that all the citizens of Illinois can go on with their lives.