The Director of DeKalb County Court Services, Michael Venditti, was this week’s guest speaker for Rotary and explained how they help with information and monitoring for the judicial system.  Court Services is a state mandated function to aid the courts in the areas of probation, restitution, and pretrial analysis for those arrested and sentenced for crimes.  Venditti said he has been with Court Services for 22 years and has seen their focus move from a monitoring role to become one of intervention and behavioral change to reduce recidivism.

 

Venditti gave details about each of the main aspects of their court service work.  He said the probation function is divided into adult and juvenile responsibilities but both deal with avoiding incarceration.  He said the adult probation work utilizes proven assessment tools that not only achieve compliance but also help the person make significant lifestyle changes to avoid future criminal incidents.  An example of such changes is use of a text system for court appearance reminders like those used by doctors and dentists to overcome poor organizational skills.  For youths, Vendetti said they have a restorative goal that includes working with the family unit to change habits and vulnerabilities.  He called this a case planning process to achieve “adultness.”   The restitution part of the Court Services workload includes overseeing court sentences like community service.  Venditti said 100 to 200 cases a year involve three thousand to five-thousand hours of work per month for government or non-profit entities.  When it comes to initial pretrial work, Venditti said their task is to recommend whether someone is jailed or released pending their trial.  He said this involves extensive reviews of the persons past social and criminal history as well as their potential flight risk.  Venditti noted that all of this information is needed by the court within 48 hours of a person’s arrest.

 

Venditti cited several progressive programs designed to help bring positive behavior changes to those arrested.  One involves a partnership with Northern Illinois University where PhD students help with adult probation assessments.  Another is their Early Risk Assessment Project (ERAP) which gives first-time juvenile offenders the chance to resolve criminal behaviors outside the court system.  Successful completion means a case can be closed without criminal charges being filed.  Venditti said where normal juvenile judicial proceedings still lead to a recidivism rate of 25 to 32%, the recidivism rate for ERAP has reached a low of 2%.