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Community Justice Vision Paper: Recommendations for Community-Based,
Trauma-Informed, Restorative Solutions to Youth Crime and Conflict
copyright © 2012 by the Cook County Juvenile Justice Task Force
This white paper is project of the Cook County Juvenile Justice Task Force (CCJJCF):
Adler School of Professional Psychology Institute on Public Safety and Social Justice
Blocks Together
Broader Urban Involvement and Leadership Development (BUILD Inc.)
Center of Change
Community Justice Institute for Youth
Community Justice Network for Youth
Fearless Leading by the Youth
Health and Medicine Policy Research Group
Precious Blood Ministry of Peace and Reconciliation
Roosevelt University Mansfield Institute for Social Justice and Transformation
For more information about this white paper or the Cook County Juvenile Justice Task Force,
contact the task force at cookcountyvision@gmail.com.
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INTRODUCTION
This paper presents a vision for community-based, trauma-informed, restorative solutions to
youth crime and conflict in Cook County (Illinois). It was written for young people across the
county who deserve a better system, as well as their parents, families, and communities. It was
also written for other key stakeholders who wish to support new approaches to neighborhood
safety, for the judges, youth workers, executive directors, block club members, police officers
and family leaders who dedicate their lives to making our communities more peaceful for all.
We have divided the paper into two sections:
1. Reinvesting Our Efforts
2. Building a New Paradigm
In the first section, we outline some of the main failures of Cook County’s current juvenile justice
system, and introduce our guiding thoughts on how the juvenile justice system can better
support young people, while making our communities safer places to live. In this section we call
for a one-to-one replacement of the dollars that are saved by reducing the population of the
Cook...