Across the country, racially minoritized and LGBTQI youth and young people are more likely to experience arrest and pretrial detention in jail. Research shows youth and young people who experience even one day in jail, regardless of their racial, sexual, or gender identity, can experience serious consequences to their mental health and experience serious case processing outcomes, like increased incarceration sentences. There is a need to keep youth and young people out of the system altogether, and when they do experience an arrest, to prioritize pretrial release as soon as possible. Importantly, to reduce disparate detention among racially minoritized and LGBTQI youth and young people, there is a need to critically examine the decisions that lead to these youth and young people being over-represented in pretrial detention. In practice, many arrests of youth and young people happen late at night where safe alternatives for police to take them to do not exist. As a result, police may default to booking youth or a young person in jail, even when they recognize it is not the best option. This means, across states like Illinois, the decisions to book youth and young people into jail are individualized, inconsistent, and largely a result of limited local resources.

JSP is partnering with the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts to build a screening tool that will create consistency across the state related to detention decisions related to youth and young people. Importantly, the construction of the tool is grounded in the principle that detention should be reserved for youth and young people who pose a serious concern for the community. The JSP research team is working directly with AOIC leaders, local youth detention facilities, and probation offices responsible for screening youth following an arrest. Together, the JSP team is identifying important data and using it to build the screening tool. Once the tool is constructed, JSP will train staff across the state on how to use the tool effectively and work with staff to ensure the tool does not create disparate detention decisions. With the implementation of this tool, the goal is for fewer youth and young people, especially among minoritized groups, to experience the harsh consequences of jail. This tool will help promote a more just and equitable juvenile justice system in Illinois.