Pretrial Interventions in Cook County: What Works?

• In Event: Poster Session 2

Abstract

In 2023, Cook County Adult Probation researchers updated an outcome analysis examining pretrial curfews. The goal of the research was to understand whether curfews are effective at ensuring court appearance and promoting public safety, compared to pretrial supervision without a curfew. Cook County currently operates two curfew programs: one overseen by the Circuit Court’s Pretrial Services Division (PTS), and the other overseen by the Sheriff’s Office. To answer this question, outcomes were examined for cases ordered to the PTS curfew program, the Sheriff’s curfew program, and standard pretrial supervision. Preliminary analyses utilized binary logistic regression and found that, after controlling for relevant characteristics, curfews were not significantly associated with increased public safety or overall success. However, participation in the PTS curfew program was associated with improved court appearance rates (while participation in the Sheriff’s curfew program was not). These findings begged additional questions. Beyond examining which pretrial interventions are most effective, this poster explores whether particular program components (i.e. court reminders) are associated with improved outcomes. To address these questions, we will utilize propensity score matching to compare outcomes for defendants belonging to four equivalent groups: those on standard pretrial supervision, PTS curfews, Sheriff’s curfews, and those released without conditions.

Authors

• Carly McCabe, Cook County Adult Probation Department

• Lindsay Bouchard, Cook County Adult Probation Department