During its long history, the Council has influenced public policy decisions regarding welfare reform, tax policy, adult education, employment and training, neighborhood economic development and housing. The Council’s programs have also led the way to examine and discuss how Chicago’s news media characterizes minorities and the poor.

Currently, the Council’s program focus is:

The goal of our initiative is to provide public education and research (particularly to neighborhoods) about youth crime and juvenile justice policy issues and, to link public education, advocacy and research with policy recommendation and implementation that will lead to long-term success for youth and communities. One phase of this program is a city-wide survey about perceptions/attitudes about youth crime and the Juvenile Court. Through the survey results, the Council hopes to obtain a better analysis of community needs and concerns regarding youth crime and what measures (policy) should be implemented to reduce youth violence and create safe communities. More details.

The Council’s public policy and race program reviews and analyzes the unique intersection between policy agendas and race. Under this initiative, the Council is reviewing four policy areas where race/ethnicity is directly and indirectly impacting policy decisions: immigration, employment, education and housing.

The Council is collaborating with a number of organizations, including the Human Relations Foundation of Chicago (a foundation committed solely to eradication of racism and discrimination in metropolitan Chicago), to explore critical issues facing Chicagoland. The Council and Foundation have also teamed up to copublish issues of One City that focus on policy and race. More details.