* Aurora Beacon-News…
DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick worried about one component of a sweeping criminal justice reform bill that is set to make Illinois the first state to drop the cash bail system. […]
Mendrick is convinced this law will have “unintended consequences” that could hurt more than it helps, namely those inmates who, while awaiting court dates, take part in intensive rehabilitation and reformation programs to address the issues – mostly drugs and alcohol – that landed them in the system in the first place.
“People are not going to get off drugs on their own,” Mendrick said. “We have a captive audience here. We take advantage of that.”
Since taking office three years ago, Mendrick has formed an especially close partnership with JUST of DuPage, a nonprofit organization that tackles issues of alcoholism, mental illness, anger and lack of opportunity through a robust rehabilitation and reaffirmation program inside the jail.
Those with addiction issues make up 80% of his inmates, the sheriff said, and for many of them jail becomes their “one best chance” at dealing with the problems that landed them behind bars.
* ACLU…
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Illinois, Legal Action Center, and the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center today filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit against the DuPage County Sheriff on behalf of Christine Finnigan to ensure she’s provided with her prescribed medication for addiction treatment (also known as MAT) while she is serving time on a February 2016 DUI.
DuPage County is alleged to have an unwritten policy that forces detainees to go through withdrawal, specifically refusing to confirm a plan for people facing imminent incarceration to be medically treated with methadone or another MAT medication known as buprenorphine. Other corrections facilities – including the nearby Cook County jail – provide these medications.
“I am horrified and afraid of going through detox while in jail,” said Ms. Finnigan. “I have gone through detox before without medication and know the pain and trauma. I nearly died. I just want to take the medication that has been prescribed for me.”
Ms. Finnigan was diagnosed with OUD in August 2019 and prescribed a daily methadone maintenance dose. This medical treatment is critical to her remaining alive. In 2016 she was charged with driving under the influence. She expects to serve 30 days in jail, starting February 25th.
“The opioid epidemic is ravaging our communities throughout the country, and jails and prisons are exacerbating the crisis by not allowing basic medication to treat opioid use disorder,” said Joey Longley, Equal Justice Works fellow at the ACLU’s National Prison Project. “Making sure that incarcerated people have access to Medication for Addiction Treatment (MAT) saves lives, with one study showing that it decreases mortality rates by as much as 74 percent. The tide is turning on this issue, and we look forward to the day that access to MAT is not up for debate.”
* From the motion for a preliminary injunction…
OUD is a chronic brain disease that involves structural changes in the brain, particularly to the parts of the brain responsible for assessing and responding appropriately to risk and reward. It is characterized by compulsive use of opioids despite negative consequences. OUD and overdose deaths are a national health crisis. In Illinois, thousands of people die each year from opioid overdose, with more than 2,000 dying in 2019. […]
The risks of relapse, overdose, and death are even higher for people who are released from incarceration after disruption of their treatment with MAT.
*** UPDATE *** From the defendant’s motion to dismiss…
Regarding the second step, here it cannot be said that Plaintiff will undergo any hardship absent a Court order. Defendants do not owe any duty to Plaintiff to provide her any treatment (or assurances thereof) prior to her incarceration. Even after she is incarcerated, we cannot know-in- advance the result of Plaintiff’s physical, or the attendant opinions of her medical providers for the care and treatment of her prospective OUD. There is not yet any “immediate and/or real” indication that Plaintiff would be harmed should the Court elect to set the matter of her potential course of treatment aside. … Thus, Plaintiffs’ constitutional argument does not pose an issue that is fit for judicial decision at the present time.
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* Joint statement from Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle…
Our goal is to get as many people vaccinated as quickly and efficiently as possible. That said, our greatest challenge in doing so is the very limited supply of vaccine we are receiving. While we are making progress every day with vaccinating people in 1a and 1b, at this time we are not being supplied with enough doses that would allow us to expand eligibility in these phases.
Doing so in Chicago and Cook County would add well over one million additional people to 1b, and the result would be that those currently eligible, including seniors, frontline essential workers and those in our most heavily COVID-burdened communities, would have an even harder time getting a vaccine.
These phases were established after careful study and consideration, and are based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We recognize the Governor must make tough choices and consider needs across this diverse state, but given the limited supply of vaccine, we must also make the tough choices as the leaders of the most populous city and county in the state. We look forward to expanding eligibility as vaccine supply improves.
* WTTW…
Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said Wednesday the city is only getting enough vaccine for 5% to 10% of Chicagoans who are already eligible.
The expansion of eligibility may make sense in other parts of Illinois, where there is ample supply, Arwady said.
Under the city’s vaccine rollout plan, all essential workers as well as Chicagoans age 16 and older with underlying health issues will be eligible to get vaccinated as of March 29, if there is enough supply.
More than 900,000 Chicagoans would be eligible in the next phase of the effort, Arwady said. But the city does not have “anywhere near” enough vaccine to meet that demand, she added.
I don’t think there’s ample supply anywhere, but dosage shipments are about to increase and the governor’s folks say they’re they’re finally getting reliable shipment estimates out of the White House.
The governor is speaking at 10 o’clock in Elgin, so we should know more soon. I’ll update this post.
* Meanwhile…
Ahead of Valentine’s Day, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday she will allow Chicago bars and restaurants to expand the number of people they serve indoors.
But the city will continue to keep tighter restrictions on restaurants than the looser rules allowed elsewhere by the state.
…Adding… Pritzker press release…
The number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination locations across Illinois continues to increase. Since yesterday, more than 340 new retail pharmacy locations have been added to the list of COVID-19 vaccination sites open to the public. There are now more than 850 vaccination locations in Illinois open to the public. The new sites include 339 Walgreens stores throughout Illinois, which will be receiving vaccine out of a federal allocation and not from the state’s allotment. Additionally, four CVS locations are being added.
More info here.
*** UPDATE *** Emily Bittner…
The Governor strongly believes the most medically vulnerable in our state should qualify for vaccination as soon as possible, and that it would be unfair for the medically vulnerable like cancer patients to be denied vaccine in Illinois. Even though vaccine supply remains limited throughout the nation, the pipeline has started to increase and nearly 100 million more doses are on the horizon. Federal guidance already includes this vulnerable group, and the Governor is particularly invested in expanding access because this group includes a disproportionately large share of vulnerable people of color.
The part about federal guidance is key there.
Background…
The Johnson and Johnson vaccine is up for approval in just a few weeks, and 100 million doses of the vaccine are expected to be distributed nationally.
The federal government has already increased the supply of vaccine sent to states over the past week and started delivering more doses to pharmacies across the state.
With these promising developments, other states have begun to expand phase 1B in line with federal guidance, and some local health departments across the state have already expressed their readiness to move to the next prioritization group in the coming weeks.
The state of Illinois is working with local health departments to ensure they have the resources they need to administer doses to those who need them most as quickly as possible.
This critical step gives local health departments the ability to make plans to open up appointments to this group of vulnerable residents.
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Please, wear a mask
Thursday, Feb 11, 2021 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Oy…
*** UPDATE *** Sen. Sara Feigenholtz is a member of the Health Committee…
“Having had a front row seat to Darren Bailey’s anti-masker and science-denying tirade during the pandemic, I certainly hope that after nearly 20,000 Illinoisans have died from the pandemic, his seat on the Senate Health Committee doesn’t result in another slap in the face to science and health care facts.”
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* Ghirlandi Guidetti, staff attorney with the ACLU of Illinois…
Today’s Auditor General’s report reveals a sad but unsurprising truth: DCFS is not meeting the needs of LGBTQ youth in care as required by its own policy. We regularly hear from youth about the lack of basic respect for their identity as well as the challenges they face accessing affirming medical care.
Instead, there is a well-worn pattern for these youth: when we learn of problems an individual youth is facing, DCFS typically cobbles together a one-off ‘solution,’ but leaves unaddressed the wide-ranging systemic issues that continue to expose LGBTQ youth to harm.
All children deserve the dignity of being respected for their authentic selves and feeling safe. When the State takes children away from their families of origin and into custody, we all are responsible for ensuring safety and dignity are accorded to them. Until safe and affirming care is the norm at DCFS, will continue our ongoing work advocating for these children.
* From the audit’s report digest…
Senate Resolution Number 403, adopted May 31, 2019, directed the Auditor General to conduct a performance audit of the Department of Children and Family Services’ (Department) compliance with its obligations to protect and affirm children and youth who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning or queer.
Overall the audit found that there is a lack of reliable and consistent information regarding LGBTQ youth in the care of the Department. Further, although the Department has established policies and procedures to ensure the well-being of LGBTQ youth in care, the Department did not implement all of these procedures or the procedures were not implemented in a timely manner. We also found that there is a lack of monitoring and oversight of private agency compliance with these procedures.
In this audit, we also reported that:
• The Department does not have a formal process in place to identify youth in care that may identify as LGBTQ.
• The Department utilizes outdated, inadequate, or non-existent computer systems to track youth in care and particularly LGBTQ youth in care.
• The Department is not ensuring that caseworkers review the Foster Children’s Bill of Rights with youth in care as is required.
• The Department did not implement training requirements in a timely manner.
• The Department failed to monitor the requirements of Appendix K including whether POS agencies have adopted policies that are at least as extensive as Appendix K.
• The Department does not require licensed foster parents to commit to provide care and homes that are affirming of all children and youth, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity as part of the licensing process.
• LGBTQ status was taken into consideration for some placements. However, the Department is not utilizing its Child/Caregiver Matching Tool in most cases.
• The Department has taken some steps to recruit LGBTQ affirming foster parents by holding events specifically to recruit LGBTQ affirming parents. However, there was no evidence that these efforts have led to more LGBTQ affirming foster homes.
• The number of emergency shelter beds in Illinois decreased dramatically between FY15 and FY19, leaving some areas of the State with no beds for youth in crisis.
• The Department is not providing accurate and complete information to the General Assembly in the required Youth in Care Waiting for Placement annual reports.
The audit report contains a total of 16 recommendations to the Department.
*** UPDATE *** DCFS…
Statement
The Department of Children and Family Services, under its current leadership, has taken aggressive measures to improve the services and care provided to LGBTQI+ youth since the time period covered by this audit. The progress is outlined in our audit responses, and DCFS continues to work diligently to provide resources and guidance to its staff and external partners to ensure that we meet the needs of this vulnerable population.
Background
This audit was conducted in 2019 using data primarily from 2017 and 2018.
Recent efforts include maintaining and expanding a list of providers, agencies, and organizations across the state that are available to meet the needs of LGBTQI+ youth. These providers include affirming therapists, LGBTQI+ organizations and agencies, and health care professionals that provide gender-affirming hormone therapy.
In June 2020, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) Clinical Division and Office of Affirmative Action (OAA) began a coordinated effort to expand programmatic support for LGBTQI+ youth in care.
The Clinical Division completes staffing and consultations, while providing clinical recommendations regarding interventions, resources, and resource linkages for the youth in care.
The OAA LGBTQI+ Services team is addressing competency training needs and recruitment of affirming caregivers, continuing to build resources, and investigating all claims of discrimination as it relates to our LGBTQI+ youth and their families.
The Clinical Division and OAA are working closely together to ensure that DCFS is following best practices for LGBTQI+ youth and their families.
As part of our commitment to providing services across the state, DCFS has created a new hiring plan and is working to fill every vacancy as quickly as possible. The newly created position of Chief for LGBTQI+ Services will bring additional leadership to DCFS and advocacy on behalf of our LGBTQI+ youth in care. This vital position is being filled as quickly as possible and will provide additional support for our current LGBTQI+ specialist and LGBTQI+ team under OAA.
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