Cervantes expands clarity around parole eligibility process for youth offenders in new law

SPRINGFIELD – Thanks to work by State Senator Javier Loera Cervantes, youth offenders will now have more clarity about when they may petition for parole.

“Young people who have done their time and worked to better themselves deserve to re-enter their communities when they are eligible so they can be better set up for a more successful future,” said Cervantes (D-Chicago). “This measure clears up confusion around the timeline young people are eligible for parole so they can begin a fresh start as soon as they are able to.”

Currently, young people who were under 21 at the time of committing a criminal offense can file a petition for a parole hearing up to three years before they are eligible for parole. If appropriately filed, the Prisoner Review Board sets a parole hearing date three years from the date it received the petition. However, sometimes a person is already eligible for a youthful parole hearing when they file a petition because they have already served the required number of years. This has caused some confusion when they file a petition over if the parole hearing can take place within a year, or if they have to wait three years for a hearing.

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Evidence-based funding coming to local schools with Cervantes support

• Evidence-Based Funding
• Schools

CHICAGO – State Senator Javier Loera Cervantes is proud to announce that several schools in the 1^st Senate District will receive investments thanks to the evidence-based funding model, in addition to the base funding that the state provides.

“Young people in our community have the potential to achieve great things—they just need the resources in their schools to reach it,” said Cervantes (D-Chicago). “Thanks to the evidence-based funding formula, students will be given more opportunities for success, and be able to access the high-quality education that all children deserve, regardless of their zip code.”

Since 2017, the Illinois Senate Democrats have utilized the evidence-based funding formula — an overhaul of the way the state funds K-12 education. By calculating the needs of individual school districts and basing state revenue on those needs, the formula makes school funding more equitable. The formula takes into account a district’s total enrollment, poverty rate and number of special education or English language learners, among other factors.

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Dental insurance payments now streamlined thanks to new Cervantes law

• Insurance
• SB 1392
• Dental Care

SPRINGFIELD – Dental patients will no longer have to worry about footing the bill for an appointment while waiting to be reimbursed by their insurance plan, thanks to an initiative led by State Senator Javier Loera Cervantes that was signed into law on Friday.

“Thousands of Illinoisans rely on receiving a check in the mail from their insurance company to cover an appointment they had to pay for themselves — a method that can cause financial strain for patients,” said Cervantes (D-Chicago). “Thanks to this new law, Illinoisans will no longer face trouble accessing care due to this payment method.”

Without this legislation, dental insurance carriers are only required to cover the cost of the visit — but it is unspecified if they need to pay the providers directly, or just reimburse the patient for their visit. This means many insurance plans do not immediately pay for a patient’s treatment, leaving them to cover the bill after the visit, only to reimburse them months later.

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ICIJA grant approvals to have quicker turnaround times under Cervantes law

• ICIJA Grant
• SB 106

SPRINGFIELD – Thanks to a new law led by State Senator Javier Loera Cervantes, applicants for grants through the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICIJA) will soon see faster turnarounds on their approvals.

“The current bureaucratic process around grading ICIJA grant applications puts an unnecessary burden on workers and can delay the grants being awarded,” said Cervantes (D-Chicago). “This measure is a long overdue update that will ensure the grant application process is efficient for all parties.”

ICIJA utilizes volunteer workers to score grant applications — a rule intended to keep the process unbiased. However, this can lead to lengthy delays due to dips in volunteer work, or unreliable expertise levels in the grading process.

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