According to its Department of Homeland Security CVE grant proposal, ICJIA conducts "bystander-gatekeeper" trainings to "educate a broad cross-section of communities on how to off-ramp individuals who exhibit warning signs of radicalization to violence as well as those who exhibit behaviors signifying they may be in the early stages of planning an act of ideologically inspired targeted violence." Significant research, however, demonstrates that there are no scientifically-proven warning signs or indicators of radicalization or vulnerability to violence. Although ICJIA claims to use a public health approach to violence prevention that borrows from gang prevention models, rather than debunked radicalization theories, we know that 1) the scope of gang violence is markedly different (namely, more common) than violent extremism and 2) gang prevention programs do not have a successful track record and disproportionately target people of color. By asking social service providers like mental health professionals and teachers to identify and report potentially vulnerable youth, we turn trusted adults into informants. In addition, ICJIA still relies on assumptions driving radicalization theories: that we can identify who may vulnerable to violent extremism using a menu or checklist of warning signs. Although ICJIA suggests that CVE is an alternative to conventional counterterrorism and as different from other harmful CVE programs, these community partnerships increase communication with law enforcement agencies like ICJIA. And conventional counterterrorism tactics like FBI stings and preemptive prosecutions have not stopped with the introduction of CVE.
On ICJIA and TVPP:
| ICJIA's TVPP DHS CVE grant proposal |
| 2017 TVPP training for mental health professionals at UIC |
| 2015 Illinois Terrorism Task Force meeting minutes passing resolution to establish TVPP |
"On September 23, 2015, the Illinois Terrorism Task Force (“ITTF”) unanimously passed a resolution recommending that “the State engage and collaborate in efforts to prevent violent extremism by creating the Illinois Targeted Violence Prevention Program.” ITTF is an advisory body to the Governor and the Governor’s Homeland Security Advisor and is charged with developing and recommending to them Illinois’ domestic terrorism preparedness strategy and recommendations to combat terrorism in Illinois." - from the Illinois Department of Public Health 2016 DHS CVE grant application (see below for full document)
Life After Hate DHS CVE grant proposal:
"Through utilizing Moonshot CVE's Digital Shepherds technology, we are able to automate the process of identifying individuals at risk of radicalization, anywhere in the country, and assign each user a risk score." - Life After Hate 2016 DHS CVE grant proposal
| 2016_life_after_hate_proposal_cve_grant_program-managing_intervention_activities_nd_grants_submission.pdf |
Illinois Department of Public Health DHS CVE grant proposal (unfunded):
"Shortly after the CVE grant notice was released, IDPH and IDHS-DMH met with ICJIATVPP, along with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, ITTF, Illinois State Police, the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice, and the Illinois Department of Corrections, to be briefed on the grant funding opportunity and to discuss opportunities to collaborate together in order to develop complementary proposals that would build resilience and prevention efforts in Illinois. The IDPH/IDHS-DMH grant proposal is a product of this collaboration." - Illinois Department of Public Health 2016 DHS CVE grant proposal
| Illinois Department of Public Health DHS CVE grant proposal |
Chicago Public Schools' Connect and Redirect to Respect program
"This funding is for the project titled 'Chicago Public Schools's Connect and Redirect to Respect (CRR) Program to use social media to identify and connect youth to behavioral interventions." - 2014 DOJ Award Letter
| DOJ award letter for the Connect and Redirect to Respect Program |
| List of Connect and Redirect "treatment" schools |
| pathAR social media monitoring contract with CPS |
| job call for an intelligence analyst for Chicago Public Schools |
Cook County DHS CVE grant proposals (unfunded):
| Cook County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management training and engagement proposal |
| Cook County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management developing resilience proposal |
Cook County Homegrown Violent Extremism 2009-2012
2011 Homeland Security Grant Program, budget narrative for programs related to homegrown violent extremism (HVE)
| Cook County HVE grant 2011 budget a |
| Cook County HVE grant 2011 budget b |
| Cook County HVE grant 2011 budget c |