Getting at the Root of Issues with Juvenile Records

Here at Smart Chicago, we are interested in technology that helps improves the lives of regular Chicago residents. Expunge.io, a simple tool for kicking off the expungement process by  by Cathy Deng and the Mikva Challenge Juvenile Justice Council, is a good example of that.

We’re also interested in helping bring along smart policies that mitigate the need for tech-based workarounds like Expunge.io. Illinois Senate Bill 0978 is a good example of that. Here’s the relevant portion of that legislation:

the Department of State Police shall automatically expunge, on or before January 1 of each year, a person’s law enforcement records relating to incidents occurring before his or her 18th birthday in the Department’s possession or control which pertain to the person when arrested as a minor if: (1) the minor was arrested for an eligible offense and no petition for delinquency was filed with the clerk of the circuit court; (2) the person attained the age of 18 years during the last calendar year; and (3) since the date of the minor’s most recent arrest, at least 6 months have elapsed without an additional arrest, filing of a petition for delinquency whether related or not to a previous arrest, or filing of changes not initiated by arrest.

Again, this is a great step in changing the law around the complex process of expungement. But this article in the Illinois State Bar Journal, Juvenile Justice, Part I: Automatic expungement of juvenile records, hints at the more difficult data/ technology realities behind juvenile records management.

One young woman completed an Illinois Job Corps program and when she applied for her pharmacy technician license, the licensing agency learned that she had an “aggravated battery” on her record, said Carolyn Frazier, an attorney and clinical law professor with the Children and Family Justice Center at Northwestern University School of Law. The girl was involved in a fight with other girls at school and was never charged with a crime, yet in some database, her arrest was listed without any dispositional information. Similarly, young man working as a janitor at a Chicago public school was fired after one of his annual background checks showed two arrests. Neither resulted in delinquency petitions or a finding of guilt.

As Frazier put it, we’re in a “brave new world of data integration” where municipalities small and large are sharing information with one another, the state, and the federal government. State police used to send information to the FBI, but that practice ended three years ago.

And the root of the harm:

Like other juvenile justice advocates, Frazier would like to see a legislative commission established to get to the root of why and how confidential information involving minors is being released.

As long as juvenile records are obtained and trafficked by unethical data purveyors, the eventual expungement of that record can have limited value.

Think of it this way: if someone discovers a lie about you in a database on a Tuesday (like the woman with an “aggravated battery” on her record who was never charged with a crime) and that lie is copied to a new database, owned by an unscrupulous data merchant, and the lie is removed from that database on a Wednesday (a successful expungement), the lie from Tuesday still exists, and can still cause harm.

We’ve got to get at the root.

Census Reporter 101 with Joe Germuska

Census Reporter is a tool that helps journalists, innovators, and students explore census data. The Census Reporter is a great way to get detailed information about demographics, income, health insurance coverage, poverty, and even commute times. The apps is powered by the American Community Survey which gathers detailed information about community areas. Joe Germuska sat down with Christopher Whitaker to give a demo of the tool and tell us more about it.

Joe Germuska, Founder of OpenGovChicago

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Civic Innovation Toolkit: Twilio

Twilio is a cloud communications platform that allows web apps to make and receive phone calls and SMS text messages. You’ve probably used Twilio at some point even if you’re weren’t aware of it. If you’ve ever received a text message when your cab has arrived, your food gets sent out for delivery, or if you’ve received text messages from campaigns – you probably were interacting using Twilio.  The Smart Chicago Collaborative offers Twilio to developers in Chicago looking to build civic apps to solve civic problems in Chicago as part of our developer resource offerings.

 

The real strength of Twilio is ease of use. With just a little bit of time and code, you can create civic apps that send out SMS messages or make phone calls. Below the fold, Twilio’s representative in Chicago Greg Baugues gives us a demo of the tool.

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The Launch of the Chicago School of Data Project

Smart Chicago has started work on the Chicago School of Data Project, which has three main components:

  • Convene a core group of practitioners in Chicago who are using data to improve the lives of regular residents
  • Document and map the landscape of data activity in Chicago— the entities, tasks, companies, enterprises, civil service organizations, and others who make up the field
  • Plan a region-wide event in early autumn where we will share this mapping work with the larger data community. We seek to showcase all of the activity underway through capacity-building workshops and demonstrations

From this project, we hope to develop a collaborative framework and tools for improving connections across the Chicago data ecosystem– the Chicago School of Data.

Matt Gee,  a respected leader in the Chicago data community, has been hired to lead this project.  Here’s a look at the work ahead:

  • Convene small-group discussions with key partners to help us frame the work and make sure that we see the entire discipline
  • Lead larger convenings of 20 – 30 people from a wider group of stakeholders to understand needs, identify opportunities, and plan for events
  • Organize a city-wide data census with volunteer data ambassadors canvassing organizations to understand what’s happening now
  • Define the scope, breadth, time period, venue, and zeitgeist of the event itself, in concert with the stakeholders
  • Review existing documents, including grant agreements to practitioners, blog posts from the field, evaluations of existing market activity,  the Urban Institute assessment, entries from our city-wide data census, and documentation of conversations conducted throughout the project
  • Define the landscape of data work in Chicago and compile a cohesive narrative that gives shape, direction, and clarity to all included
  • Recruit speakers, teachers, and panelists for the event and work with them on their content

This is a lot of work. It will only be of value if it is inclusive and exhaustive. If you think what we’re saying speaks to you— if you have any inkling that you use data to improve lives in Chicago— we want to hear from you. Even if we’re already deep partners, and talk to each other every day, please complete this form.

If you are interested in helping out on the project itself, we need people to conduct interviews and help others complete the form to get their voices heard. If you’re interested in helping on this, please let us know here.

Benchmark: Chicago Public Library Cyber Navigator Program

Establish a smart community benchmark and toolkit for broadband access and use” is Initiative Four of the City of Chicago Tech Plan. The Connect Chicago program is an essential component of that initiative. As part of this, we’re highlighting programs that are quintessential programs that we consider crucial to having a connected city for all.

One of the first comprehensive technology training programs in the city, the CyberNavigators program at Chicago Public Libraries has led the way in bridging the digital divide in Chicago.

Bessie Coleman

About the CyberNavigator Program

CyberNavigators are computer tutors that work in 44 libraries across Chicago, where they served almost 90,000 library patrons in 2011. Through technology training and mentoring, one-on-one assistance and public classes, CyberNavigators work with library patrons to teach computer basics, resume writing, word processing, internet searching and more.

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Connect Chicago Toolkit: USA Learns

Establish a smart community benchmark and toolkit for broadband access and use” is initiative four of the City of Chicago Tech Plan. The Connect Chicago program is an essential component of that initiative.

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Stephen Alderson, Director of Adult Education at Instituto del Progreso Latino spoke at the last WeConnectChicago meetup to talk about their CYBER-ESL program, a blended online English as a second language  program for adult ESL learners.  One component of this program is the use of the USALearns website.

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Connect Chicago Toolkit: Typing Club

Establish a smart community benchmark and toolkit for broadband access and use” is initiative four of the City of Chicago Tech Plan. the Connect Chicago program is an essential component of that initiative.

Rene Paccha works for the Spanish Coalition for Housing teaching digital skills to residents at their Pilsen and Southeast Chicago locations.

During the last Connect Chicago Meetup group,  Rene described how he teaches beginners how to use the keyboard. We caught up with Rene in southeast Chicago during one of his tutoring sessions to talk about the tools that he uses to teach keyboarding . 

typingclub

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Connect Chicago Toolkit: YouCanBookMe

Establish a smart community benchmark and toolkit for broadband access and use” is initiative four of the City of Chicago Tech Plan. the Connect Chicago program is an essential component of that initiative. 

At our last Connect Chicago meetup, Rene Paccha demonstrated some of the tools that he works with teaching digital skills to residents at their Pilsen and Southeast Chicago locations. One of these tools is YouCanBookMe, which Rene uses to let residents schedule training sessions. 

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Update on the CivicWorks Project on the Knight Foundation Blog

Here’s an informative update on our Civic Works project. Here’s a snip:

The Civic Works Project is a two-year effort to create apps and other tools to help increase the utility of local government data to benefit community organizations and the broader public. w

This project looks systemically at public and private information that can be used to engage residents, solve community problems and increase government accountability. We believe that there is a new frontier where information can be used to improve public services and community building efforts that benefit local residents.

Through the Civic Works Project, we’re seeking to improve access to information and identify solutions to problems facing diverse communities. Uncovering the value of data—and the stories behind it—can enhance the provision of public services through the smart application of technology.