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Chicago Public School homicide crisis Part IV - The Governor responds
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To date, the State of Illinois has been somewhat silent about the now internationally known record violence and homicides associated with Chicago Public School (CPS) students. Although the Illinois State Police has been working with the Chicago Police Department on specific initiatives and not really sought publicity, the Governor’s Office and the General Assembly have been noticeably silent until recently.
Part of the silence and seeming inaction is possibly attributable to the substantial budget deficit that state faces, estimated to be as much as $13 billion. This reduction has caused numerous social service budget cuts that impact youth programs. But, unfortunately, the highly chronicled murder of CPS student Derrion Albert probably placed state government in a position where it had to respond.
In spite of the budget problems, Governor Pat Quinn has started to become more vocal and visible on the issue. In the past few weeks/days, Governor Quinn has been involved in three announcements targeting the CPS homicide crisis.
Late last month, Governor Quinn announced that the Illinois Department of Human Services will receive nearly $4 million in federal stimulus funds to support programs that help reduce community violence. This will include targeting youth violence prevention and juvenile delinquency prevention and reduction programs. More specifics will probably be provided in a future press announcement and/or event.
October 10th, he joined a group of Chicago parents, lawmakers and neighborhood activists in promoting the importance of anti-violence programs for youth. Quinn’s primary partner in this announcement was State Representative Karen Yarbrough of Maywood, who is the Chairperson of the Illinois House Public Safety Appropriations Committee. Yarbrough, known as a leading advocate of violence prevention programs, has supported more funding for those efforts. But, because of the previously mentioned budget restrictions, her committee is limited in what it can support.
It should be noted that Yarbrough’s committee oversees the Illinois Violence Prevention Authority (IVPA). Established in 1995, the IVPA has the following primary goals:
* Develop and implement a statewide plan for violence prevention;
* Fund local and statewide anti-violence programs;
* Coordinate existing violence prevention initiatives and encourage collaborative projects;
* Evaluate and provide technical assistance for violence prevention programming; and
* Conduct public education and awareness efforts about violence and its prevention.
The IVPA, which is co-chaired by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Illinois Department of Public Health Director Damon Arnold, M.D. and will be examined more in-depth when this column focuses on the Attorney General’s Office.
Finally, last week, Governor Quinn was back on the stump announcing that he was appointing former Chicago Bulls point-guard B.J. Armstrong as his senior advisor for youth outreach. Armstrong’s role will be to promote youth after-school programs as an alternative to street gang membership.
A cynical person may say that Quinn’s interest and involvement is connected to his seeking his first elected - term as governor (Quinn was appointed after former Governor Rod Blagojevich was impeached). But, at least Quinn is directing federal funds to support potential solutions and using his bully pulpit to advocate that this is not just a City of Chicago problem.
It will be interesting to see if the other candidates for governor touch this political hot potato, who so far have not. Hopefully, voters will make them do it.
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