Governor Quinn signed a law to fund meaningful community-based services for survivors of human trafficking and encourage a more effective law enforcement response to end demand for sexual exploitation.

Like in Ferguson, young leaders in our communities report needing to be protected from the police, instead of by the police.

There were shouts of joy and celebration on Thursday, July 24, as 500 Reclaim Campaign leaders began a partnership with Cook County Chief Judge Evans to prevent violence by creating a new Restorative Justice diversion and reforming the court system.

The Joint Criminal Justice Reform Committee of the Illinois General Assembly met for the first time this week. We are advocating for the committee to look at long-term criminal justice sentencing reform.

The Cook County justice system is broken. Its policies perpetuate the cycle of violence plaguing our communities by draining our limited resources and devastating people’s lives. Instead of rehabilitating individuals who need support and treatment we impose costly punishments that often lead to isolation and despair. This is what the Cook County justice system did for Russell Cunningham, a CRS leader and member of the Reclaim Campaign from First Baptist Congregational Church. 

After the end of a difficult legislative session in Springfield, CRS Executive Director, Rev. Curtiss Paul DeYoung, shared the following encouragement with CRS leaders at the summer Leadership Council on June 21, 2014.

On Wednesday, June 25, 2014 the Chicago City Council unanimously passed the Responsible Sale of Firearms Ordinance to help prevent gun trafficking. The vote comes in advance of a federal court-ordered July 14 deadline to allow gun shops in the city.

Overall this was a very difficult legislative session in the Illinois General Assembly. But, we are not giving up or slowing down.

Failure to vote on HB 2897 by the Illinois House of Representatives before the end of the spring session will delay the Cook County Drug Field Test Pilot Program. This initiative would have run for one year starting September 1, 2014 and could have saved the county millions by significantly reducing the amount of time pretrial defendants wait in Cook County Jail.

The Illinois General Assembly adjourned the spring legislative session on May 30, 2014.  Join us in celebrating these victories!

Urge your Illinois legislators to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to make the Illinois tax code fairer for working families who live in poverty.

Our children, families and communities are in grave danger. Losing around $2 billion in revenue would force unprecedented, disastrous cuts to education and human services.

We are more than halfway through the Illinois General Assembly's Spring Session, which is scheduled to adjourn on May 31, 2014. Thanks to your advocacy, momentum is building for CRS' 2014 Legislative Platform.

Fiscal cliff, flat tax, fair tax -- everyone in Illinois is talking about these issues. As the May 1 deadline approaches, we frame our fair tax commitment with the principles of fairness and justice. Now more than ever, we need you to take action.

The budget process is likely to dominate this session. A portion of the temporary income tax increase will expire in 2015 resulting in an estimated $1.6 billion drop in state revenue. It’s also an election year..

Illinois' current flat tax system is unfair and not really flat. Taxpayers in the lowest 20 percent pay almost 14 cents on the dollar in state and local taxes while those in the top 1 percent pay only 5 cents. Justice calls us to the fair tax campaign.

Identified by our member congregations, the issues for Community Renewal Society's 2013-2014 Platform for Renewal direct our policy and organizing work. Join us as--together--we put our faith in action for the common good by advocating for education reform through a fair tax, affordable housing, violence reduction, and job opportunities for ex-offenders and long-term unemployed workers.

Thank you for standing up against mandatory minimums and contacting your state legislators.