Project Safeway

Project Safeway began in Chicago, Illinois, in the early 1990s and was created through a partnership between the Cook County Adult Probation Department (CCAPD), Treatment Alternatives to Street Crime (TASC), and The Safer Foundation. The program rested on the notion that probation is inherently community-based and should therefore be decentralized to create stronger links among [Page 349]community members, nonprofit agencies, community organizations, and probation. According to N. L. Martin and A. J. Lurigio, one of the main strategies of Project Safeway was to make probation convenient by establishing one-stop community-based reporting centers and building a network of relationships to assist probationers as they began restoring their lives. The program also reduced institutional overcrowding by targeting some drug offenders who were sentenced to periodic incarceration or work release programs. These offenders were released from jail and sentenced to home confinement and probation, according to J. Robinson and Lurigio.

Funding for Project Safeway was procured through a grant from the Chicago Public Housing Authority and federal funding related to the Weed and Seed program. The initial grant was $88,368. Weed and Seed is a federal initiative of the U.S. Department of Justice. The mission of Weed and Seed is to “weed out” violent criminals, drug offenders, and gangs in disorganized neighborhoods while also “seeding” these areas with the necessary resources for economic viability and community efficacy. Project Safeway touched on the “weed” mandate of this philosophical movement through the close community contacts established by probation officers housed in community reporting centers. These relationships provided probation officers with critical information about the adjustment of probationers, information not normally available through mandatory monthly reporting at an office location far from the probationer's community. By developing more intimate relationships with community members and local agencies, probation officers were better able to provide the surveillance needed to “weed out” noncompliant probationers. The primary programmatic focus of Project Safeway, however, was to “seed” these selected communities with services that would then be easily accessible to probationers most in need of them.

Lurigio and Martin note that the community model of community corrections provided the theoretical underpinnings for the development of Project Safeway. This approach, according to P. Wack, embraces the idea that the “community must be given the opportunity to be equal partners in the justice system. Likewise, the community must recognize not only its right to safe streets and homes but also its responsibility for creating them.” Developed during a time when community sentiment throughout the United States demanded more punitive sentencing of offenders, Project Safeway resisted the “get tough” approach to criminal justice, instead focusing on the integral role of the community in treating offenders. Community-based reporting sites facilitated connections and familiarity among probation officers, community members, agencies, churches, schools, and businesses. These relationships allowed officers to develop and coordinate community services integral to the successful rehabilitation of offenders.

According to Leanne Fiftal Alarid and Rolando V. del Carmen, probation is the most widely used sanction in the United States. During the 1990s, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, Cook County supervised approximately 35,000 probationers each year. While Chicago comprises approximately 78 identifiable communities, the traditional provision of probation services in Cook County had required probationers to report to the main office, located at 26th Street and California on the South Side of Chicago. In addition to holding the philosophical assumption that probation should be community-based, Project Safeway addressed very practical considerations. The geographic breadth of Chicago in addition to extended periods of inclement weather and the cost of public transportation made reporting a considerable challenge for a significant number of probationers. Project Safeway was organized into three decentralized centers in various Chicago neighborhoods: the Ida B. Wells public housing complex on the South Side, the Near North Side, and the West Side community of Lawndale. Each community in which Project Safeway operated was characterized by a disproportionate percentage of probationers relative to other Chicago communities. The decentralization of these offices allowed probationers easier access to their probation officers, thus facilitating more personal and familiar relationships between clients and providers. The convenience of a neighborhood setting helped probationers feel more comfortable and placed them near other community services that provided counseling for drug and alcohol issues.

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