Detainees on their way out of Cook County Jail will soon be able to take a key resource with them on the journey, under a first-of-its-kind ID program being launched this week by state and county officials.
Starting Monday, some detainees leaving jail custody on electronic monitoring will be handed a free state ID, a critical and often elusive stepping-stone that hasn’t been available to former inmates as they try to find housing, jobs and other foundations to rebuild their lives, officials and advocates say.
