Two Illinois Supreme Court justices traveled to McLean County this week, participating in a judges’ meeting for the 11th Judicial Circuit that includes McLean County and observing Family Treatment Court.
It was the 23rd of Justice Elizabeth Rochford's stops across the state. Rochford also is the sitting president of the Illinois Judges Association and committed to visiting all 25 circuit courts in the state, with a few added stops across Cook County.
Rochford’s statewide tour is part of an initiative called Building a Bridge from the Courthouse to the Community.
“I’m personally asking judges to step out of the courthouse and into the community to speak about the work we do to develop transparency and, in the process, build confidence in the work of the courts,” she said.
Rochford said it’s been a privilege to visit judges in their professional environments and witness them doing their work.
“There are some common challenges we all face,” she said. “We’re all very committed to the same things — fairness, integrity, impartiality and following the rule of law. But depending on where you’re doing that work, you face different challenges.”
Rochford said she met an 11th circuit judge from a rural area who works alone, handling every case.
“It’s very different when you get to more highly populated counties where a judge becomes very specifically expert in a certain area of law,” she said.
Rochford also noticed differences in the various styles and locations of courthouses. Older, historic courthouses are centrally located.
“The entire town is built around the courthouse. The law is at the center of the lives of the community,” she said. “But those beautiful, historic courthouses sometimes have challenges in terms of putting in technology. There are security issues that are different between some of the courthouses, where they don’t have the same kind of court officers, for example, in the courtroom.”
Family Treatment Court
Justice Mary K. O'Brien joined Rochford in McLean County with a specific interest in observing Family Treatment Court. As part of her responsibilities for the Illinois Supreme Court, O’Brien serves as a liaison to the juvenile courts committee.
“We have invested deeply in treatment courts [and] problem-solving courts for mental health, for drug use, for veterans,” she said. “But we have not done so statewide for families impacted with abuse and neglect — what we call a JA case.”
McLean County operates the state’s only Family Treatment Court, a voluntary program offered to parents involved in child welfare cases involving substance abuse. The program launched in 2024, funded by a $750,000 federal grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
“McLean County has had a tremendous history of being very collaborative,” O'Brien said.
The Criminal Justice Coordinating Council convenes professionals from law enforcement, the legal system and corrections quarterly to share information and strategize coordinated, data-driven approaches — something McLean County Chief Judge Casey Costigan has said is not a given.
“When, about three years ago, McLean County was collaborating to get this going, it was right about when I got elected,” O’Brien said. “And now we are seeing such terrific results and impact here.”
The county additionally runs drug and recovery courts and serves as the hub for a circuit-wide veterans treatment court. And under consideration is adding a specialized court for emerging adults, an idea backed in the newest version of the county’s Behavioral Health Action Plan.
After observing Family Treatment Court on Wednesday, O’Brien said the program is a model that should be repeated throughout the state.
“Keeping a family intact, helping them overcome their challenges, we’ve learned is the best bet for the child,” she said. “If we want our kids to be successful, the best thing we can do is help support and give them a nurturing family. Seeing some parents that are on the road, have gotten their kids back, but are still willing to participate because of how much it’s helpful to them, means that this is a success, and we should be doing it everywhere.”
Measuring success
O’Brien said despite having one court system in Illinois, measuring aggregate outcomes of problem-solving courts can be difficult.
“Everybody has a different vendor. They have a different way of doing things. We have 102 circuit court clerks that are doing things a little bit differently,” she said.
Even if there was centralized data collection, there’s also the question of how to gauge success for individuals or families who encounter systemic and generational factors influencing involvement in the justice system.
“The best results come from seeing the cycle broken,” O’Brien said.
Chances are higher that juveniles involved in JA cases struggle with delinquency and wind up in the adult court system.
“When we don’t see that happen, then I think we know we have success,” she said. “What I really think is so important for people to know is how hard the judges — not just in McLean County, but everywhere — are really working to try to find things that work. This can be awfully taxing work to come every day and feel like you’re not getting through."
Rochford said success isn’t linear. And progress can be frustratingly slow.
“There are some data points we can actually measure, and then there are some collateral effects and impacts that we cannot quantify that are such positives, and are so far reaching,” she said.
“We are talking about treating and assisting one person and one family at a time. But the impact of that one family or that one person is far more reaching — into the neighborhood, into the community, into the next generation.”
