The Pretrial Success Act:

INVESTING IN A COMMUNITY-BASED NETWORK OF CARE

The Opportunity

The Pretrial Fairness Act ensures that pretrial release is determined by safety and justice—not access to money. More people now maintain employment, housing, and connections to loved ones while awaiting trial in the community. Illinois can set them up for success by expanding access to supports and services.

Vision

Illinois can reduce pretrial jailing and improve community safety by expanding access to case management, mental healthcare, and substance use disorder services for people awaiting trial.

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FUNDING REQUEST: $15 MILLION

Funding will create a community-based network of care through a statewide grants program administered by the Department of Human Services.

Funded services will include:

System Navigation to help people access services that will facilitate pretrial success

Mental health and substance use disorder assessment,

case management, and

treatment according to clinical standards, especially linkages to detox and medication-assisted recovery (MAR)

Transportation and child care to remove barriers to court appearance.

Values

Equity

Supports and services should prioritize the communities historically most burdened by the money bond system.

Voluntary

Coerced treatment can lead to increased rates of recidivism—both in terms of criminal involvement and drug use. Voluntary, community-based pretrial supports and services are more effective and far less harmful than mandated or jail-based forms of treatment.

Community Voice

Supports and services should be informed by community members, including those directly impacted by the criminal-legal system, and delivered by organizations trusted within the community.

Coordination

The system of supports and services should be as easy to navigate as possible, avoiding the creation of new bureaucratic barriers to success during the pretrial period.

A robust community-based network of care is only one component of a comprehensive system to ensure pretrial success. Illinois must also invest in ensuring that every community provides access to public defenders, court reminders, and upstream approaches to prevent involvement in the criminal-legal system.

The Pretrial Success Act has been endorsed by the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice and more than 70 organizations, including some of Illinois’ largest health & human service organizations.

A Just Harvest
A New PATH
AIDS Foundation of Chicago
Access Living
Alliance for Safety and Justice
Ascend Justice
Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Chicago
Believers Bail Out
Bend the Arc, Champaign Urbana
Black Justice Project
BlackRoots Alliance
Breakthrough
Cabrini Green Legal Aid
CAIR Chicago
Cannabis Equity Illinois Coalition
Champaign County Bailout Coalition
Change Peoria
Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation
(CAASE)
Chicago Alliance for Collaborative Effort (CACE)
Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts
Chicago Community Bond Fund
Chicago Democratic Socialists of America
Chicago United Solidarity Project
Children's Best Interest Project
Claretian Associates
Clergy for a New Drug Policy
Color of Change
Community Behavioral Healthcare Association
Community Renewal Society
Concerned Citizens of Precinct 12
Decarcerate BloNo
Equality Illinois
Equity and Transformation
Faith Coalition for the Common Good
Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project
(FLAP)
First Followers
Illinois Association for Behavioral Health
Illinois Black Advocacy Initiative
Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Illinois Collaboration on Youth
Illinois National Organization for Women
Illinois Partners for Human Service
Illinois Psychiatric Society
JCUA
Justice and Witness Ministry of Chicago
Metropolitan Association – Illinois Conference
United Church of Christ
Law Enforcement Action Partnership

League of Women Voters of Illinois
Loevy + Loevy
Masjid Al-Taqwa
Mental Health America of Illinois
Mental Health Summit
Metropolitan Family Services
NAMI Illinois
NAMI Northwest Suburbs of Chicago
NAMI South Suburbs of Chicago
National Association of Social Workers, Illinois
Chapter
Nehemiah Trinity Rising
Nikkei Uprising
Peoria Coalition to End Money Bond
Pretrial Justice Institute
Prison Policy Initiative
Quad Cities Democratic Socialists of America
Quad Cities Interfaith
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC-IL)
Restore Justice
Rockford Urban Ministries
Sana Healing Collective
She Votes Illinois
Shriver Center on Poverty Law
Silver Law Office PC
Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation
Springfield Harm Reduction Initiative
Students for Sensible Drug Policy – IL
The Center for Empowerment and Justice
The Coalition to End Money Bond
The Illinois Prisoner Rights Coalition
The LIAM Foundation
The Next Movement at Trinity UCC
The People’s Lobby
The Porchlight Collective SAP
Thresholds
Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities (TASC)
Unitarian Universalist Advocacy Network of
Illinois
Unitarian Universalist Prison Ministry of Illinois
United Congregations of MetroEast
Uptown People's Law Center
Urbana-Champaign Reproductive Justice
WIN Recovery
Women's Justice Institute
YWCA McLean County

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