Daily Journal staff report
Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently announced the appointment of Kankakee County Stateâs Attorney Jim Rowe to serve on the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority.
The appointment is pending confirmation by the Illinois Senate.
Created in 1983, the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority is a state agency dedicated to improving the administration of criminal justice.
The authority brings together key leaders from the justice system and the public to identify critical issues facing the criminal justice system in Illinois, and to propose and evaluate policies, programs, and legislation that address those issues.
Rowe, a Democrat, won re-election for a second term in the November general election. He ran unopposed.
A new program will help connect vulnerable children to mental health care.
The Southern Illinois Resiliency Project is receiving a $2.1 million grant from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority. The money will fund trauma therapists and youth advocate positions with local police departments, who will be able to identify vulnerable children and connect them with services.
Matt Buckman, executive director of the Stress and Trauma Treatment Center in El Dorado, said children that experience trauma are more like to have mental and physical health challenges as adults.
Identifying and working with children early can help them develop resiliency and may prevent problems in later life, ranging from mental illness to physical diseases like diabetes, to addiction.