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* For a lot of years, this “program” has been in the statute books basically so people can say it’s there. Tribune…
For the second year in a row, Gov. J.B. Pritzker is proposing the state spend tens of millions of dollars on a witness protection program that went unfunded for the first nine years of its existence.
Eight months since the long-neglected initiative secured its initial funding, however, no witnesses have been relocated, and only about $67,500 of the $30 million approved by the General Assembly last spring has been spent, primarily on employee-related expenses.
The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, which oversees the program, said it is still trying to come up with rules on how to dole out the money, ensure it has enough employees to administer the program and finalize how potential recipients will be informed about the fund.
Unless it’s a dire emergency (like during the pandemic, when rules didn’t apply), it’s pretty tough to set up a brand new state program and have it fully operational from scratch in 8 months. State hiring restrictions alone pretty much guarantee that. And then there are the other standard red tape hurdles.
* From the ICJIA…
While we are all eager to get Victim Witness Protection Funds to those in need, ICJIA must take several steps to ensure this new $30 million program is appropriately designed, fully established, and effectively administered.
First, sufficient staffing is needed to ramp up and administer the program. With staffing, ICJIA must then complete program rules development, program design, and notice of funding opportunity development, and then plan for oversight of actual grant administration, which includes application review, agreement negotiations, contract processing, and facilitating reimbursement requests in a timely manner.
Program rules, which must go through a multi-step, legislatively derived process, are being drafted based on the enabling legislation and state grant administration requirements. ICJIA project coordinators are designing the program based on stakeholder input, legislative and state grant funding requirements and ICJIA rules, and research to inform the most effective use of funds.
Once the program is designed, ICJIA will request approval from the ICJIA Board to release a notice of funding opportunity for an amount to be determined. ICJIA will develop the notice of funding opportunity, which will include a problem statement, program overview, eligibility requirements, budget guidelines, and other information. Upon notice of funding opportunity release, eligible agencies will have approximately 30 days to apply for a grant.
The ICJIA claims that a notice of funding opportunity “will be released later this year.”
* Back to the story…
Several law enforcement agencies contacted by the Tribune said they’d welcome large-scale state funding for witness protection efforts. But the degree of demand for it is unclear. In the 1990s, Illinois ran a witness protection program for two years and saw little participation.
And back to the ICJIA…
Despite the low participation cited in the 1997 program evaluation, ICJIA anticipates a greater demand for this funding once it is released. In addition, ICJIA employs an effective outreach strategy for notifying potential applicants of funding opportunities and will target messaging to the eligible entities. This is a new program and funding will be adjusted moving forward based on demand. […]
As mentioned, to address one possible cause of low demand in 1997 (lack of knowledge about the program), ICJIA will employ an effective outreach strategy for notifying eligible parties of this opportunity. In addition, local law enforcement agencies will be able to apply directly for reimbursement. This process is responsive to a critical need identified in the evaluation. ICJIA also is exploring a strategy to streamline the reimbursement process and expedite funding to participating agencies.
* As far as the $30 million goes, this is from the governor’s office…
This line is set up as an appropriated fund deposit from GRF to the Violent Crime Witness Protection Program Fund, with the idea that it would be seed money to cover the program until the State gets a better sense of what the demand will be. These deposits could potentially cover multiple years and they may not fully expend in the near-term unless the demand is there.
Back to the ICJIA…
The Fund will support emergency or temporary living expenses, moving expenses, rent, utilities, security deposits for rent and utilities, mental health treatment, and lost wage assistance. ICJIA did not provide a program cost estimate. This is a new program and funding will be adjusted moving forward based on demand.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Mar 7, 23 @ 11:07 am
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Is anyone working on improving the state hiring process? Hope so. We must be among the least efficient processes in the country.
Comment by Dan Johnson Tuesday, Mar 7, 23 @ 11:14 am
–Several law enforcement agencies contacted by the Tribune said they’d welcome large-scale state funding for witness protection efforts.–
The cynic in me says “Yes, I’m sure they would.”
– In addition, local law enforcement agencies will be able to apply directly for reimbursement.–
This is the part that needs very strict oversight. Otherwise it’s going to turn into the next corruption story.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Tuesday, Mar 7, 23 @ 11:49 am
Just in time for the Madigan and Burke trials
Comment by Lucky Pierre Tuesday, Mar 7, 23 @ 11:53 am
=== Just in time===
Aren’t those federal cases?
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Mar 7, 23 @ 11:55 am
- Is anyone working on improving the state hiring process? -
Getting rid of the special master was a good start.
Comment by Excitable Boy Tuesday, Mar 7, 23 @ 12:10 pm