On Good Authority

              – 1 –
Domestic violence probation
in Lake, Winnebago, and
Kankakee counties
On Good Authority
Vol. 5, No. 4
May 2002
On Good Authority is a periodic
briefing on trends and issues in
criminal justice program evaluation.
This report was written by staff
Research Analyst Kimberly Burke. It is
a summary of an implementation
evaluation of domestic violence
programs in Lake, Winnebago, and
Kankakee counties. The evaluation
was conducted by Justice Research
Associates. Copies of the evaluation
are available from the Authority’s
Research and Analysis Unit.
The Illinois Criminal Justice
Information Authority is a state
agency dedicated to improving the
administration of criminal justice in
Illinois. The basic functions of the
Authority are criminal justice research,
federal and state grants administration,
and information systems development
and support.
For more information, or for copies of
this or other publications, contact the
Authority at (312) 793-8550, or visit
our Web site at www.icjia.state.il.us.
The evaluation was supported by grant #00-
DB-MU-0017 awarded by the Bureau of
Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs,
U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view in
this document do not necessarily represent the
official position or policies of the U.S.
Department of Justice.
Printed by authority of the State of Illinois, May
2002. Printing order #02-169; 6,500 copies.
George H. Ryan
Governor
Peter B. Bensinger
Chairman
Candice M. Kane
Executive Director
ILLINOIS
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
INFORMATION AUTHORITY
The number of domestic violence
incidents being addressed by the
criminal justice system has
increased in recent years, with more
victims pressing charges and proceeding
with their cases. The number of orders of
protection issued rose 12 percent
between 1996 and 2000, and the number
of women served by shelters increased 12
percent from 1998 to 2000, according to
the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic
Violence. In addition, the number of
offenders on probation for domestic
violence offenses more than doubled in
Illinois between 1997 and 2000
In June 1999, the Illinois Criminal
Justice Information Authority launched a
plan to use federal Anti-Drug Abuse Act
funds to establish and enhance domestic
violence probation programs in Illinois,
including programs in Lake, Winnebago,
and Kankakee counties. This On Good
Authority summarizes an assessment of
these domestic violence probation
programs.
Justice Research Associates con-ducted
an implementation evaluation of
the programs beginning in 1999. In a
succession of site visits and interviews,
investigators collected data to describe
the general manner in which each county
approached the issue of domestic
violence, and how the project impacted
the process of handling domestic
violence cases.
The three jurisdictions maintained a
philosophy of ensuring victim safety
throughout the process. They adopted a
victim-centered approach, but had
difficulties maintaining victim involve-ment.
There was an emphasis on a
coordinated community response to
domestic violence that incorporated
sanctions, supervision, and treatment for
the offenders. In Lake County, the
groundwork for the specialized domestic
violence probation program included a
domestic violence court and a pre-existing
domestic violence probation
program, which they enhanced by
creating a surveillance unit. In Kankakee
and Winnebago counties, the grants
were used to provide specialized
probation services in existing domestic
violence courts.
Lake County
Domestic violence probation
population
To provide a context for summarizing the
implementation evaluation of the domes-tic
violence probation program in Lake
County, characteristics of the targeted
population were studied. In a sample of
161 domestic violence cases assigned to
probation between July and December
1999, 58 percent of victims reported being
intimate partners of the probationer, and
22 percent were married to the proba-tioner.
More than 75 percent of probation-ers
reported being employed at the time of
the offense. Ninety percent of probation-ers
received an order to complete
domestic violence treatment. The majority