Kendall County State’s Attorney meets with Governor, House and Senate Leaders for Fight Crime: Invest in Kids

Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis recently joined other police chiefs, sheriffs and state’s attorneys in Springfield to speak with House and Senate leaders and the Gov. J.B. Pritzker about the current and future funding of programs for children that prevent crime and reduce recidivism. Weis is a member of the Illinois Executive Board for Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, Illinois, an anti-crime organization that advocates for evidence-based investments in programs for kids that are proven to cut crime and violence.

With the current budget situation, many area programs that focus on crime prevention for children are seeing funding reduced from previous levels. These programs, which focus on crime prevention, are successful and economic ways to keep kids from becoming involved in the criminal justice system. Other programs work to help those already in the criminal justice system get back on track and help to reduce recidivism.

“Without the proper funding, many of these programs will have to turn away youth that need these services. Children, without the necessary prevention programs, will end up as statistics in our criminal justice system. The cost in the future will be much higher to deal with these issues which could be prevented with the proper funding of these programs.” Weis said.

The law enforcement leaders represented more than 300 law enforcement leaders who are members of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Illinois.

The group advocates for programs such as Teen REACH, an after-school program, early childhood education and Redeploy Illinois as being effective tools to keep children from entering the criminal justice system.

Fight Crime: Invest in Kids does not receive any funding from the state of Illinois for the programs for which they advocate.