Adult Redeploy Illinois: Avoiding Jail for a Felony Crime

joliet felony criminal lawyers

A decade ago, Illinois passed a groundbreaking law called the Illinois Crime Reduction Act of 2009. The opening lines of the Act read: “Currently, the Illinois correction system overwhelmingly incarcerates people whose time in prison does not result in improved behavior and who return to Illinois communities in less than one year.” This law created the Adult Redeploy Illinois (ARI) program with the goal of diverting people who have committed lower-level felony crimes such as DUI , drug possession drug possession, and theft from jail sentences to local rehabilitation programs. In many cases, offenders have been repeatedly arrested and traditional court punishments have failed to impact their future behavior. ARI seeks to break the cycle of crime and help these individuals become productive citizens.

How Does Adult Redeploy Illinois Work?

More than 1,600 people participate in community-based, jail-alternative programs in Illinois each year funded by ARI. These people represent a 25% reduction in the number of offenders placed into the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections each year.

Each Illinois county has its own approach to implementing ARI. In Will County, ARI funding supports all of the problem-solving courts, including drug court, mental health court, veterans court, and an ARI for offenders with longer and more complicated criminal histories.

The goal of ARI is to help offenders address the underlying issues that led them to commit crimes. In some cases, early life trauma has inhibited an individual’s development of moral values, basic life skills, and work skills. In other cases, mental illness or substance abuse disorders play a role. ARI seeks to break the cycle of criminal behavior through the use of counseling, skills training, and medical treatment.

ARI uses behavior modification methods such as anger management training, yoga, ADHD therapy, neuro bio-feedback training, medication-assisted treatment, and more. One component of the program is the Moral Recognition Therapy Group, a type of cognitive behavioral therapy which helps clients work through 12 steps to become aware of their antisocial feelings and behaviors and to convert them into prosocial behaviors. Life skills such as money management and job skills are also taught.

People typically remain in an ARI program for 18 to 24 months. If they successfully complete the terms of the program assigned to them by the court, they will have their felony conviction stricken off with leave to reinstate, which allows fo r expungement of the criminal record .

Contact a Will County Criminal Defense Lawyer

If you have committed a non-violent crime in Will County, you need an experienced Joliet criminal defense lawyer to defend you and safeguard your legal rights. If a conviction appears unavoidable, we can advise you on ways to avoid jail, such as participating in one of the problem-solving court programs funded by Adult Redeploy Illinois. Call the Law Offices of Jack L. Zaremba at 815-740-4025 for a free consult.