Reentry Council

In a nutshell, the Champaign County Reentry Council connects people reentering the community from the criminal justice system to the services and support structures they need to succeed individually. That success also translates to less recidivism in the community and better support for families to be safe and successful as well.

The Council was created by the County Board to address the needs of the entire reentry population and not just substance abuse under the previous program years ago. It began as an a coordinating and advisory group to the then reentry program and then was enhanced with the efforts of the Collaboration project (final report here and more information from the Cheat Sheet here). It currently exists through a County agreement with Rosecrance and meets at the Rosecrance facility on Fox Drive. Here's some basic information from their bylaws:

The purpose of the Reentry Council of Champaign County is to provide a means of communication and coordination among community organizations, public officials, advocates, and others involved in the community response to persons returning to Champaign County from incarceration in federal prison, state prison, or the county jail. The Council also receives and reviews data regarding jail bookings, jail-based screenings, and connections to services for the purpose of coordinating community services and planning. The Council receives regular reports from organizations providing reentry and related services, reviews funding opportunities, and recommends actions which will enhance public safety, reduce recidivism, and improve outcomes for those returning from incarceration and their families.

The constituencies with voting representation on the Council are the Champaign County Board, the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office, the Champaign County Mental Health Board, the State's Attorney's Office, the Judiciary, the County Jail, Champaign County Health Care Consumers, Champaign County Probation, U.S. Probation, Rosecrance Central Illinois, the Champaign County Continuum of Care, Champaign County Housing Authority, Champaign County Regional Planning Commission, FirstFollowers, Ann's House, GROW, State of Illinois Department of Corrections Parole, TASC, a law enforcement representative, a liaison from the Crisis Intervention Team Steering Committee, and a designated Citizen Representative.

There's not a lot of online information about the Reentry Council (although a lot of the work leading up to it is documented on the Sheriff's website here) and it does not have meetings open to the public, although they do extend invitations for guests to sit in. Their contract renewal was recently moved closer (by procedure) at the last County Board meeting (more information here, video of their presentation here). Board Member McGuire stated at the Reentry Council this month that he was optimistic about renewing the program and thanked individuals for their hard work on the progress and three years of data collected.

Another highlight of the meeting was the new Housing Authority of Champaign County Executive Director was in attendance with the interim director and they spoke specifically about the housing issue here. They're applying to be one of the Housing Authorities to take part in a trial program to open up more housing for the reentry population with funding from the Vera Institute. Champaign County has recently been recognized as an Innovator County (see County Board report video link) for its work in criminal justice reform, so there's a good chance we could be accepted. This could help with housing programs generally, not just HACC. It would still allow for screening, but it would not be a catch-all for those with a criminal background. It would also allow for more creative and flexible solutions than most options at the moment.


Meeting Summary:

Here's a quick meeting summary as opposed to a full write up:

Bruce Barnard (from the report to the Board) was the facilitator for the meeting. Folks from the County Board, Jail, law enforcement, probation, and support organizations, etc were in attendance. A guest speaker from Jesus House Restoration Ministry gave an overview of their program. They discussed the annual report at the County Board and program updates. HACC discussed the Housing pilot program mentioned above.

There was quite a bit of collaboration between the organizations and corrections agencies sharing information over my head and updating each other on the status of various parts of the reentry population and programs and services available and in use.

The meeting ended with a couple announcements. The Champaign County Health Care Consumers award event is coming up. More information here. NAMI Champaign is having an event for the community as well. More information on that here.


[Last updated: 12/12/2018 with additional information on the Reentry Council]