Safe and Thriving Communities

Creating safe, thriving communities and an equitable and fair legal system for all of Cook County’s residents requires continued advocacy for safe, sustainable reforms and community-based programs that address the root causes of crime and violence. Cook County facilitates and invests in comprehensive and coordinated planning and implementation to proactively address violence and improve safety in highly impacted communities. The County also works to align investments and strategies to prioritize the needs of individuals involved in the criminal legal system and promote alternatives to detention.

Goal: Create safe communities and an equitable and fair legal system for all residents.

Objective 1:

Champion a regional approach to grow the economy and combat racial and economic inequities.

Strategy	Key Projects	Related Strategies	Equity Fund Recommendation
1.1) Invest in a public health approach to reduce gun violence, and coordinate and integrate efforts across the County.	Convene County agencies engaged in violence prevention efforts Aligning budget investments with public health approach for violences prevention	Healthy 4.1) Encourage hospitals and healthcare providers to develop collaborative, holistic, trauma-informed intervention models to reduce individual and community	3.3 Alternatives to Policing 1.2 Behavioral Health Administration
1.2) Support community-based partners with planning, resources and response capabilities to address root causes of violence and reduce reliance on the legal system.	Gun Violence Prevention and Reduction grants Domestic Violence Intervention and Support Services initiative Community of Care for violence prevention grantees	Open 1.5) Identify and implement best practices to help community-based organizations strengthen capacity and access County funding opportunities.	6.1 Equity in Grantmaking
1.3) Collaborate across jurisdictions to maximize investments, approaches and outcomes.	Government Alliance for Safe Communities Scaling Community Violence Intervention for a Safer Chicago (SC2)		3.1 Data Transparency

Objective 2:

Align strategies to prioritize the needs of individuals involved in the criminal legal system and promote alternatives to detention.

Strategy	Key Projects	Related Strategies	Equity Fund Recommendation
2.1) Center impacted communities and people with lived experience in criminal legal reform efforts and decision-making	Racial Equity Cohort Safety and Justice Challenge Capstone Grant Community Engagement Project	Open 1.3) Improve community engagement by involving community members and stakeholders in an authentic way that centers them in processes and informs planning.	6.2 Equitable Community Outreach
2.2) Develop a collaborative budgeting process and performance metrics for multi-agency criminal legal system reform that work to streamline efforts and maximize impact.	Justice Reinvestment Initiative		3.3 Alternatives to Policing
2.3) Expand investment in community-based organizations, violence prevention initiatives, reentry support and survivor services.	Cook County Reconnect program Domestic Violence Intervention and Support Services initiative Cook County Readiness and Capacity Building Initiative	Open 1.5) Identify and implement best practices to help community-based organizations strengthen capacity and access County funding opportunities.	6.1 Equity in Grantmaking 3.2 Re-entry Plan
2.4) Advocate for evidence-informed policies that decrease racial, ethnic and socio-economic disparities and advance criminal legal reforms that promote community safety.	Pretrial stakeholders group Supporting Education and Employment Development (SEED) program evaluation		3.1 Data Transparency
2.5) Partner across governmental entities and aligned civic partners to advance innovative strategies and meet the needs of residents involved in the legal system.	Government Alliance for Safe Communities Pretrial stakeholders group		3.1 Data Transparency
2.6) Continue to safely reduce County detention populations.	Electronic monitoring reform Pretrial Fairness Act monitoring and implementation and evaluation Reimagine youth detention		3.2 Re-entry Plan

Objective 3:

Inform criminal legal system decision-making by improving collection, analysis, interagency sharing and public release of data.

Strategy	Key Projects	Related Strategies	Equity Fund Recommendation
3.1) Ensure data collection advances County priorities and provides accessible and usable information that centers community questions and concerns.	Countywide criminal justice system dashboard		3.1 Data Transparency
3.2) Advocate for improvements in residents’ experiences utilizing the court system and accessing needed information.	Racial Equity Cohort Community dialogue on criminal legal reform efforts and access to justice	Open 1.1) Improve communications with residents, paying special attention to those with unique needs related to disability, language and other barriers. Open 1.3) Improve community engagement by involving community members and stakeholders in an authentic way that centers them in processes and informs planning.	6.2 Equitable Community Outreach
3.3) Support ongoing collaboration among separately elected officials to maintain a publicly available dashboard and reports on the criminal legal system, including disaggregated demographic data.	Countywide criminal justice system dashboard Safety and Justice Challenge Capstone Archiving Project	Open 4.3) Implement public-facing communications to share data on an ongoing basis.	3.1 Data Transparency

SPOTLIGHT: GOVERNMENT ALLIANCE FOR SAFE COMMUNITIES (GASC)

GASC is a collaborative partnership between the State of Illinois, City of Chicago and Cook County governments to strengthen the region’s community safety ecosystem through optimizing investments in community safety. The region received a high volume of federal funding to spur pandemic recovery efforts. In response, the three levels of government partnered to maximize the impact of the funding by creating a grants guide connecting local organizations to funding opportunities, supporting and scaling community-based approaches to building safe communities and providing capacity building resources to local organizations. In November 2024, GASC announced a $100 million grant opportunity for violence prevention and community violence intervention initiatives.