The Reclaim Campaign to reduce violence in our communities is celebrating two major victories! Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Sheriff Tom Dart publicly announced a plan to tear down three divisions of the Cook County Jail over the next two years. President Preckwinkle and the Cook County Board of Commissioners recently increased the funding for community-based violence prevention in the FY17 Cook County Budget from $3.2 to $6.2 million!

CRS member churches came together to affirm our priorities for the “Platform for Renewal 2016-17,” present our annual congregational and partner awards, celebrate campaign victories, celebrate board members whose terms have ended, elect new board members and dialogue about our strategic vision. Father Larry Dowling of St. Agatha Catholic Church and Jaquie Algee of Trinity UCC co-chaired the assembly.

If you want to stay informed on police accountability, please sign up! We'll let you know when organizing and advocacy opportunities come up.

The FAIR COPS Ordinance would immediately increase police accountability by establishing an Office of Police Auditor to independently monitor patterns of police misconduct, ensure that officers are investigated and held accountable for their actions, and make policy changes that provide meaningful systemic reform. As people of faith, we are called upon to demand justice now.

Update: The Chicago City Council is scheduled to vote on the Mayor's ordinance on Thursday, September 29, 2016.  CRS does not endorse the Mayor's ordinance.

On July 29th Governor Rauner signed HB 4360 into law! Urge the Governor to sign the remaining bills to increase employment opportunities in schools for people with criminal records.

The Illinois General Assembly and Governor Rauner reached a compromise on a stopgap funding bill for fiscal year '16 and the first six months of fiscal year '17 on June 30, 2016--the last day of the fiscal calendar. However, the immense damage done in the past 365 days, without a state budget, will not be repaired by this stopgap bill.

HB 4515, a bill to create health care job opportunities for people with criminal records, passed the Illinois House on Wednesday, June 29, 71-38! It will now be sent to the Governor.

The Illinois state legislature adjourned the 2016 spring session just minutes before midnight on May 31 and, once again, failed to pass a budget for FY16 or FY17.

Join us on June 30 and demand that Gov. Rauner and legislative leaders put aside non-budget agendas and pass a responsible, fully funded budget with adequate revenue.

Three bills have passed the Illinois General Assembly with significant bi-partisan support and will now be sent to the Governor for his signature.

Illinois has gone 11 months without a fully funded state budget for FY16 and, on May 31, the spring legislative session will likely adjourn without an FY17 budget.

Members of the Illinois General Assembly will have a chance to vote for a proactive long-term solution to the Illinois budget crisis when they go back to Springfield next week.

Current Illinois law prohibits park districts from even considering qualified candidates with certain criminal convictions—regardless of how long ago those offenses occurred, the circumstances surrounding them or any other mitigating information. As a result, deserving and qualified applicants in our communities are unable to access jobs in their own communities.

At the April 12 rally in the rotunda of the Illinois State Capitol, hundreds of faith leaders joined CRS and put their faith into action. We marched, chanted, and prayed outside the Governor’s office demanding a fair budget now! We met with legislators and asked them to: increase job opportunities for people with criminal records; improve police accountability; and enact a fair tax and fair budget that protect the most vulnerable.

Thanks to you advocacy, four bills to increase jobs opportunities for men and women with criminal records are advancing with significant bi-partisan support through the Illinois General Assembly!

A new research report from Community Renewal So.ciety finds that the two civilian oversight agencies charged with investigating and disciplining police misconduct in Chicago.

Governor Rauner delivered the annual State of the State Address to the members of the Illinois General Assembly on Wednesday, but he ignored the state’s most pressing issue: nearly seven months into FY16, the state of Illinois is still operating without a budget and this crisis is devastating families and communities across the state.

Fifty days have passed since the video of LaQuan McDonald’s killing was released, and yet Mayor Emanuel and the City Council have taken no decisive action to address the systemic failures of Chicago’s police oversight.

Join us as we demand action from our elected officials to stop police brutality, end violence, enact fair tax reform, and increase job opportunities!

On behalf of Community Renewal Society, I urge you to immediately close the Illinois Department of
Juvenile Justice’s Youth Center at Kewanee.

The State of Illinois is about to enter its fifth month of operating without a budget, while children and families in our state continue to suffer. Illinois is now worst in the nation for access to affordable, quality child care.