Chicago Police Department and Department of Family and Support Services’ Administration of the Juvenile Intervention and Support Center Audit Follow-Up

Executive Summary

The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) has completed a follow-up to its February 2020 audit of the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and Department of Family and Support Services’ (DFSS) administration of the Juvenile Intervention and Support Center (JISC). Based on the Departments’ responses, OIG concludes that CPD and DFSS have fully implemented 12 of the 24 corrective actions related to the audit findings, substantially implemented 3, partially implemented 6, and not implemented 3.

The purpose of the 2020 audit was to determine whether JISC was designed according to best practices for law enforcement-based youth diversion and whether its administration of diversion programming was consistent with its goals, such as reducing youth recidivism. The audit concluded that although JISC had been in operation since 2006, the City still did not know whether the program met its goal of reducing recidivism. This uncertainty was due to poor recordkeeping and a lack of collaboration among the JISC program partners. Additionally, components of JISC’s design did not align with best practices for youth diversion programs and ran the risk of retraumatizing youth or increasing their likelihood of reoffending.