Obamacare is for everyone, even those who are bound for prison.
“The Affordable Care Act is giving us an incredible opportunity to provide health care to individuals who have never had the opportunity to have health care,” said Circuit Court Judge Mary Colleen Roberts to the Cook County Board. “I think we can all imagine the number of people who are in our criminal justice system who do not have access to health care.”
The board approved almost $800,000 in grants Wednesday, Oct. 2, for a “problem solving court” backed by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.
The program was designed to divert prison-bound individuals with substance abuse problems and give them the option of rehabilitation as opposed to time behind bars. The program, known as the Access To Community Based Treatment Court, or ACT court, looks at repeat, non-violent offenders that are willing to plead guilty, and is made possible by “Capitalizing off the Affordable Care Act,” Roberts told the board.
Roberts, who will preside over the court, stood alongside Juliana Stratton, executive director of the Cook County Justice Advisory Council, to help explain the program. The Justice Advisory Council is a committee formed by Preckwinkle to further her public safety and criminal justice reforms, said Preckwinkle spokesperson Owen Kilmer.
The grant amount approved Wednesday will fund only nine out of the 18 months required to complete the program, as indicated on the meeting agenda. Commissioner John A. Fritchey of district 12 brought the issue to light.
“Judge, with all due respect though, the program requires 18 months of participation,” Fritchey said. “What happens in nine months? I mean because there is staff involved etc. etc. What happens if the money’s gone and the program is only halfway through?”
Roberts said in response that the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority “has assured us that the money will continue to come. They’re not going to drop the ball on us.”
The Authority is a state-based agency that disperses and allocates funds from both private and public sources, according to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Act. It is governed by a 20-member board of select state and local leaders, among which include Cook County’s first Hispanic State’s Attorney, Anita Alvarez, Cook County sheriff Thomas Dart, Cook County police superintendent Gary McCarthy, attorney general Lisa Madigan and Preckwinkle herself, according to the Authority’s website.
Preckwinkle discussed the Authority after the meeting with reporters.
“They provide funding for programs out of the state’s attorneys office, programs out of the sheriff’s office and this case, a program out of the presidents office,” she said. “Our conviction is that we will see additional funding in the next funding cycle, so I’m not really worried about it.”
One of the central critics to the program was Commissioner Earlean Collins of district one.
“Everything you do here is after the fact, after the people are in jail,” she said when addressing Stratton. “Why do you want to give them a record? That record stays with them. Once they get through to the states attorneys office, they have a record if they are truly arrested. And they plead guilty to something and then they put them in diversionary programs too, but they’ve got a record. They’ve been in the system. We want to keep them out first, which is number one. But you all don’t want to help do that.”
Despite Collins’ comments, Stratton did not oppose the program when the vote was called. Collins was reached several times as to why she did not vote the program down but she did not comment. Collin’s chief of staff, Africa Gansallo, confirmed she would not be seeking re-election.
Stratton later said in a phone interview concerning Collin’s remarks, “I didn’t view it as such heavy critiques, I thought she had some questions and it is my job to respond to those questions. I felt like my role was to respond to any concerns that she might have had.”
Stratton told the Board the Justice Advisory Council expects more than 200 offenders will participate in the program throughout its first year of operation.
