Innovation and Digital Services

ICJIA’s Innovation and Digital Services Unit (IDS) is charged with designing, developing, and operating advanced technology that can be used to help Illinois public safety agencies collect and share information. Affordable information systems were created by the unit to strengthen communication between agencies and help these agencies coordinate their efforts to reduce crime.

Clandestine Lab Reporting Information System

Staff continued to oversee the Clandestine Lab Reporting Information System (CLARIS), a database that helps eliminate gaps in the drug information network that records the growing methamphetamine problem in the United States. CLARIS is a web-based data collection system for reporting and analysis of methamphetamine lab seizure data used mainly by law enforcement agencies in Illinois. With CLARIS, remote users access the program and centralized database at ICJIA using a web browser.

CLARIS is used by the Illinois Methamphetamine Response Teams and other drug enforcement groups who perform methamphetamine lab seizures. Data collected are submitted to Illinois State Police for analysis. Agencies also use CLARIS to file the required federal El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) report, and to perform local monthly and annual statistical tabulations. In FY20, 114 monthly data reports and 47 lab seizures were entered into CLARIS. These data are useful in determining, among other criteria, the types, numbers, and locations of laboratories seized, manufacturing trends, precursor and chemical sources, the number of children and law enforcement officers affected, and investigative leads. The data also helps agencies to justify and allocate current and future resources.

ICJIA created CLARIS in 2007 with a $50,000 grant from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics Office of Justice Programs. When combined with Illinois State Police and EPIC data, this comprehensive information-sharing network helps stem the proliferation and sale of methamphetamine by more accurately pinpointing the sources of its production.

Enhanced Grants Management System

ICJIA continued to use and update its proprietary Enhanced Grants Management Information System (eGMIS) during the fiscal year. Staff has managed system transition to the state’s lifecycle grant management system, developed around the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act framework. The system provides a common online platform for all grant activity while maintaining current grant management system functions. InfoNet Data Collection InfoNet is a web-based data and case management system used by victim service providers in Illinois. These organizations use InfoNet to document services provided to victims of domestic and sexual violence, and to produce standardized program and grant-specific data reports.

For ICJIA and other funding organizations, InfoNet serves as a grant monitoring system and statewide repository for victim service data. InfoNet facilitates continuous strategic planning at state and local levels that supports effective resource allocation and improves services. ICJIA operates and manages InfoNet, while system use and requirements are collaborative- ly governed with the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault, the Illinois Department of Human Services, and Child Advocacy Centers of Illinois. Staff provided InfoNet service to 65 domestic vio- lence programs, 32 sexual assault centers and 10 child advocacy centers in FY20. InfoNet data show these organizations provided over 691,000 service hours to more than 67,000 victims statewide during the fiscal year.

In addition, ICJIA staff logged responses to nearly 1,000 requests for technical assistance and data from users and external organizations in need of data. Other notable InfoNet highlights during FY20 include establishing a formal partnership with the Chicago Department of Family & Support Services (CDFSS), which provides funding to about 20 domestic violence programs in Chicago that are also supported with ICJIA-administered funding. ICJIA staff built an administrative reporting utility within InfoNet for CDFSS and provided necessary training and onboarding services for CDFFS staff to use the system. Additionally, staff assisted hundreds of users in FY20 to access InfoNet remotely and securely as a necessary response to COVID-19 and the statewide stay-at-home order, allowing service providers to seamlessly continue essential operations.

InfoNet

InfoNet is a web-based data collection and reporting system used by victim service providers in Illinois. The system is nationally recognized for facilitating standardized data collection and reporting at the statewide level. Initial development of InfoNet began in the mid-90s as a collaborative effort between the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault, and the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Since then, InfoNet has grown to include partnerships with the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Illinois.

The primary purposes of InfoNet are to:

• Standardize data collection and reporting, thereby improving the ability to analyze information statewide and locally.
• Provide a central repository for statewide victim service data.
• Ease reporting for victim service providers that receive grants from multiple funding agencies, which often require different types of information.
• Facilitate continuous strategic planning for improving services and system response to victims.