Juvenile Justice Reform

Drawing Attention to Prevention and Intervention

Client challenge
As a state government budget crunch escalated, a successful juvenile justice program in Illinois needed support for its cost-effective, but largely unheralded, approach.

Our solution
Prairie Oak managed research, writing and production of a 2002 report summarizing Illinois' progress in juvenile justice - particularly on new, low-cost, prevention and intervention programs that have proved to be much less expensive than confinement. The report - prepared on behalf of the Futures for Kids initiative of the Office of Illinois Governor and the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission - was distributed to the legislature, and other influential leaders around the state involved with juvenile justice. The report received national recognition during 2003 from The Communicator Awards.

Prairie Oak also arranged editorial-board briefings, following publication of the report, with seven of the largest-circulation newspapers serving the state to emphasize that cost-effective programs should be supported as Illinois lawmakers considered massive budget cuts. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote a particularly poignant editorial that focused legislators on how community-based programs help more and cost less.

Client results
The Illinois Legislature passed a bill in 2003 - which was signed by the governor - that would support a juvenile-justice transition to greater reliance on lower-cost community-based programs.