SCY is convening youth service providers and government stakeholders in Cook County and leading the development of a care coordination model for justice-involved youth. The Probation Department, Juvenile Court judges and others will be able to refer youth to a Centralized Intake and Referral Home, which will assess the youth's needs and risk level and place him/her with the appropriate community-based provider for care coordination and other services. The mission of the Juvenile Justice Collaborative is to minimize further involvement of arrested youth in the justice system and reduce racial disparities by facilitating and coordinating access to comprehensive support services that meet adolescents' developmental needs. We are committed to youth and their families because youth are our community's most valuable resource.

The Collaborative plans to offer services that provide alternatives to detention at four steps in the juvenile justice system in Cook County:

  1. Detention screening by Probation Department
  2. Screening by the State's Attorney
  3. Juvenile Court judge's detention decision
  4. Post-sentencing, as an alternative to detention or to prevent probation violations

Innovative care coordination model to keep young people from being incarcerated 

Strengthening Chicago’s Youth (SCY) at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, together with Cook County Juvenile Probation Department, TASC, the Illinois Collaboration on Youth and 10 community-based service providers, launched the Juvenile Justice Collaborative project. Up to 50 young people, ages 12 to 18, will be referred to the Collaborative to receive appropriate mental health and other services instead of spending time in the juvenile justice system.