Winnebago County program to mentor people returning home after incarceration
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
Get our newsletter
ROCKFORD — A new program will provide people returning from jail or prison with mentorship and other support to help them turn their lives around after incarceration.
Winnebago County Board members on Thursday approved the acceptance of a nearly $200,000 grant from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority to hire a call center coordinator and four peer navigators to work with people with a moderate to high risk of reoffending after an arrest or incarceration. The county will partner with the nonprofit Get Connected 815 for the program.
The navigators, who themselves will be former offenders, will offer mentorship and help coordinate with service providers, probation and parole to help with reentry into the community. They will be available weekday evenings and throughout the weekend to fill the gap when most service providers close at 5 p.m., according to the proposal put before the County Board.
“The program follows the evidence-based Risk, Needs, and Responsivity model and will employ former offenders, who understand first-hand some of the barriers and intimate needs of individuals returning from incarceration,” said Marlana Dokken, director of the Chairman’s Office of Criminal Justice Initiatives, in a news release. “This program will go beyond provision of services by encouraging and providing introduction to new social associations to be better equipped for success.”
Related: ‘We’ve got to adapt’: Winnebago County State’s Attorney moves forward with gun court plan
More than half reoffend
There were more than 2,200 adults on probation in the county at the end of 2020, all who were held for some time in the Winnebago County Jail. And data from the county shows there’s a need to focus on preventing recidivism.
Between 2011 and 2014, about 56% of people released from the Illinois Department of Corrections into Winnebago County were rearrested for any type of crime within three years of their release, according to the county. About 22% were arrested for a violent crime.
Among those discharged from probation supervision between 2014 and 2017, 36% were rearrested within three years of their discharge, and 12% committed a violent offense.
More news: Rockford photojournalist acquitted after arrest during 2020 protests
“We seek to go beyond provision of services, by encouraging, and providing introduction to new social associations,” the county’s proposal reads. “By doing so, we will be addressing some of the most important criminogenic needs that often go unaddressed: antisocial values and beliefs, and antisocial peers.”
County Board news: New member – a former Republican majority leader – appointed to the board
The County Board also approved a resolution authorizing services for the Innovation in Supervision: Smart Probation grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. This will allow the 17th Judicial Circuit Court to create evening hours at the Resource Intervention Center (RIC) and expand service offerings, such as cognitive behavioral therapy and Partner Abuse Intervention Programming.
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas.
