Public safety and justice system funding opportunities:
2. Criminal justice system reform
Grant making in Public Safety and Justice System supports Community Goal #2: Securing conditions for healthy, safe, just and caring communities.
Funding Opportunity 1: Violence prevention
The definition of violence spans a large number of issues including domestic violence, inter-personal violence, gang violence and youth violence. Although the overall level of violent incidents in Chicago has decreased, the level remains unacceptable. Homicide remains one of the leading causes of death in Chicago. Some areas such as youth violence are on the rise: 2009 saw a 48% increase in homicides and a 37% increase in shootings among CPS students as compared to the same time frame in 2008. Furthermore, there has been an uptick in the number of reported violent crimes committed against the elderly and against individuals based on their sexual orientation.
Outcomes Sought
- Decrease in homicide rate and violent incidence rates among youth.
- Decline in domestic violence.
- Safe communities for children, youth and families.
Our Funding
The Trust will pursue several funding strategies, including:
- Support for effective anti-violence programs.
- Continued collaboration with other funders to develop an action plan to reduce youth violence.
- Work with other funders to support capacity building and system change for domestic violence providers.
The Trust will directly solicit proposals from organizations working on systemic changes and neighborhood strategies that have a proven track record of reducing or preventing violence. There will be no RFP process in violence prevention.
Contact Us
Please direct all inquiries to Jim Lewis, Senior Program Officer at
Funding Opportunity 2: Criminal justice system reform
Efficiency, effectiveness and equity should be hallmarks of criminal justice. Systems in the Chicago region and the United States have been heavily criticized for not always meeting those requirements. Administration of justice is often slow and expensive. Rehabilitation efforts too often fail to prevent offenders from returning to crime. And the system is accused of enforcing laws in a manner that discriminates against persons of color and the poor. Heavy reliance on punitive zero-tolerance strategies has put many more people in prison over the past two decades: mostly persons of color and limited means, often non-violent offenders. The United States now has the highest rate of imprisonment per capita in the world.
At the state level, violent crime has decreased but incarceration continues to increase. Some 40,000 people enter or leave Illinois prisons annually. The prison population has grown by 500% since 1970, predominantly due to an increase in nonviolent drug-related offenses. More than half of those released from Illinois prisons return within three years; in 2005, 60.7% returns were for technical violations of parole. A felony conviction creates significant long-term consequences for ex-offenders, families and communities, including family instability, job barriers, lower tax revenues and housing difficulties. Meanwhile, youth violence continues to weigh heavy on the public conscience in the Chicago region.
In addition to improving the efficacy and equity of the criminal justice system, there is a need to invest in prevention, community engagement and alternative models of justice.
Outcomes Sought
The region will be among the safest urban areas in the nation because of effective crime prevention strategies, fairness and equity in law enforcement, improved access to opportunity and increased civic engagement in community safety and justice. Specific outcomes include:
- Reduction in incarceration for nonviolent offenders.
- Increase in community-based correctional alternatives for offenders.
- Reduction in the number of cases heard at the criminal courts.
- Reduction in the racial disparity of arrest and incarceration rates and recidivism rate.
- Reduction in recidivism.
Our Funding
The Trust will develop a plan of action and will release a request for proposals to identify organizations that can work closely with the Trust to deliver on the outcomes identified above.
Please direct all inquiries to Jim Lewis, Senior Program Officer at
