The Cook County Department of Corrections, the fourth biggest jail in the country, circulates an average of around 100,000 inmates a year, with about 6,100 inmates on any given day. | Adobe Stock
The Cook County Department of Corrections, the fourth biggest jail in the country, circulates an average of around 100,000 inmates a year, with about 6,100 inmates on any given day. | Adobe Stock
On Nov. 17, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot signed the “Roadmap for a Second Chance City” executive order to establish a multi-agency re-entry council that serves incarcerated people reentering society.
It will focus on assisting those in need of employment, housing, and healthcare.
“I know all too well the incredible challenges people face when trying to rebuild their lives after exiting the criminal justice system, Lightfoot tweeted. "For many in our community, including my own brother, we have failed to create opportunities for them to have meaningful and productive lives post-incarceration. This has hurt communities and families throughout our city, particularly in Black and Brown neighborhoods. We’re working to change that.
"In the Chicago Recovery Plan, we invested $10M in a 3-year reentry workforce program for training and wrap-around supports for residents to attain employment and stabilization, and $3M in community legal services like expungement and record sealing," she continued. "There is still much work to be done, but these are steps in the right direction to build a truly Second Chance City.”
Lightfoot's older brother, Brian Lightfoot, served 17 years in prison after robbing a bank and shooting a security guard. Having witnessed his reintegration firsthand, she describes the process as “painful and shocking”.
The Cook County Department of Corrections, the fourth biggest jail in the country, circulates an average of around 100,000 inmates a year, with about 6,100 inmates on any given day, according to its site.
In 2005, a study on recidivism began following 401,288 ex-convicts released in the United States; 83% of them had been arrested again by 2014, and 68% were arrested within three years. The people in the study had been arrested 1.9 million times by 2014, an average of five arrests each.
Lightfoot’s executive order comes as a welcome surprise for many. In 2020, Chicago saw the highest number of gun-related deaths in decades, and in the first eight months of 2021, Chicago had 2,344 shootings.
The new council will first convene in March of 2022.
Alerts Sign-up