Judge Rosemary Grant Higgins
George N. Leighton Criminal Court Building
2600 South California Avenue, Courtroom 206
Chicago, Illinois 60608
(773)674-7416
FAX: (773)674-6610

Court is held every Friday at 9:30 a.m.
Staffing to occur after intitial court call.
All social service provider reports and forms can be faxed prior to court to (773)674-6610.

WINGS (Women In Need of Gender-specific Services) is a specialty, problem-solving court established in the Circuit Court of Cook County’s Criminal Division in January 2011 to help women charged with felony prostitution to exit the commercial sex trade. The court presides over all felony prostitution cases assigned by the Presiding Judge originating in both Chicago and suburban Cook County.

The purpose of the WINGS court is to address the underlying issues that led women into the commercial sex trade, and to offer individualized services, including substance abuse treatment, trauma counseling, housing, ancillary legal assistance and job training services.

Women who choose to participate must plead guilty and undergo an intensive two-year probation period of treatment. The WINGS court judge works with a designated team made up of public defenders, state’s attorneys, specialized probation officers, case managers, Sheriff’s jail staff, community-based advocates and service providers to conduct staffings to formulate a necessary rehabilitative plan and treatment for each participant.

The WINGS court was initialy designated for only 25 participants. In September 2011, a second court call, dubbed Feathers by court staff, was added as the number of women being charged with felony prostitution steadily increased. While the Feathers call has fewer resources at its disposal, it operates in a similar same manner as WINGS with POWER Probation Officers as case managers and is having a positive impact on the lives of the participants.

Combined, the WINGS and Feathers court calls have helped countless women in the past year and a half, and are saving the Illinois Department of Corrections significant taxpayer dollars by reducing the female prison population and reducing recidivism.

The WINGS court was developed in response to a community based initiative led by The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless’ Prostitution Alternatives Round Table (PART) and other social service providers, and was planned and implemented by Criminal Division Presiding Judge Paul P. Biebel, Jr. and Judge Rosemary Grant Higgins.

All defendants charged with felony prostitution are sent to WINGS, unless a pre-trial screening determines that the individual is better suited for a different specialty court.  If assigned to WINGS, the Assistant State’s Attorneys and the Assistant Public Defenders review the case and subject to the court's aproval, an offer to participate in the WINGS court two-year POWER probation program is extended to the defendant. 

Each WINGS participant follows a two-year POWER Probation plan, which includes:

• In-patient alcohol and drug treatment
• Out-patient alcohol and drug treatment
• Routine alcohol and drug testing
• AA, NA and Prostitution Anonymous support groups
• Trauma counseling, as well as individual counseling, as needed
•  Survivor mentorship
• G.E.D classes
• Career counseling
• Family reunification services and legal consultation, as needed
• Health care services, as needed
• Housing services, as needed

Interested parties and family members cannot come into court. They are welcome in the gallery only.

The WINGS Steering Committee meets monthly to discuss the progress of the program and to make critical assessments and evaluations where needed. Currently, the Steering Committee is working on developing research and statistical analysis of WINGS with the participation of Dr. Arthur Lurigio, Loyola University Chicago. In addition, the Committee is exploring opportunities for funding resources and planning a Felony Prostitution Court Conference for 2013. 

The following individuals are members of the WINGS Steering Committee:

• Judge Rosemary Grant Higgins,  Chair and WINGS and Feathers specialty courts judges
• Amy Campanelli, Deputy Suburban Operations, Office of the Public Defender (708) 865-6343; amy.campanelli@cookcountyil.gov
• Joe Danzl, Court Liaison Sheriff’s Women’s Justice Program
• Sarah Layden, Director of Advocacy Services, Rape Victim Advocates (312) 433-9603 x25; advocacy@rapevictimadvocates.org  
• Daria Mueller, Associate Director of Public Policy, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (312) 641-4140 x241; daria@chicagohomeless.org
• Al Pizza, Supervisor, Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities (312) 573-8317; apizza@tasc-il.org
• Pam Pottle, Supervisor, POWER Probation (773) 674-2540; pamela.rundle-pottle@cookcountyil.gov  
• Octavia Tyson, Families Building Commuity, Program Supervisor, Heartland Alliance (773) 624-6148 x1981; otyson@heartlandalliance.org  
• Charise Valente, Supervisor, State’s Attorney’s Office (773) 674-3426; charise.valente@cookcountyil.gov

Links to other resources:

• Ashunti RMS:
• Association House of Chicago
• Chicago Coalition for the homeless
• Case Management, Referrals and Linkages, and Transition Support
  • TASC, Inc.
• Victim Advocacy/Rape Crisis Centers (RCC)
  • Chicago Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CCASA)
    • Mujeres Latinas En Accion
    • Pillars
    • Rape Victim Advocates (RVA)
    • YWCA
  • Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE) 
  • The Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault (ICASA) 
• WINGS Project Participants
  • DWJS
  • SAO 
  • Public Defender
  • Probation
• Family Reunification Services
  • Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers (CLAIM)
• Substance Abuse Treatment
  • South Suburban Council on Alcoholism
  • AbraxasSouthwood Interventions
  • Women’s Treatment Center
• Healthcare
  • Access Community Health Network
  • Christian Community Health Center (CCHC)
  • Healthcare Alternative Systems (H.A.S.)
• Inpatient Treatment
  • MOM’s Program
  • Sheriff’s Furlough Program (SFFP)
  • Women’s Residential Program (WRP)
  • The South Suburban Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse
• Outpatient Treatment
  • The Women’s Treatment Center (TWTC)
  • The South Suburban Council
• Individual and Group Trauma Counseling
  • Heartland Alliance’s Violence Recovery Services (VRS)
  • The Chicago School – Forensic Center
• Shelter and Transitional Living
  • The Inner Voice, Inc.http://www.innervoicechicago.org/
  • Haymarket
• Halfway Homes:
  • Oxford House
• Supportive Housing
  • Chicago Dream Center – New Life for Women
  • Chicago House
  • Heartland Alliance’s Second Chance Project - Families Building Communities Expansion (FCBE)
  • Human Resource Development Institute (HRDI) 
  • P.O.W.E.R. Program
  • The Chicago Low-Income housing Trust Fund
• Survivor Mentorship
  • Heartland Alliance’s FCBE Survivor Mentor Program
• Therapeutic Job Training and Placement
  • Career Advancement Network, Inc.’s Career Passport 
  • The CARA Program 
  • Gordie’s Foundation
  • Inspiration Kitchens
  • SAFER Foundation
  • The Second Chance Act of 2007

• Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Public Interest Law Symposium, Winter 2013. Details forthcoming.
• “Incarcerated Females: Breaking the Cycle,” Cook County Commission on Women’s Issues’ 2012 Public Hearing, October 17, 2012, Power Point Presentation
• Interview with MSNBC & The Today Show, “Sex Slaves in America,” October 12, 2012, broadcast of interview, forthcoming.
• “WINGS Takes Flight in County,” Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, (Sept. 5, 2012)
• “Justice Circle Celebrates Cook County’s WINGS Court,” Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, (Jan. 23, 2012)
• “Prostitution Court Opens in Cook County,” Chicago Tribune (Jan. 17, 2011)

The WINGS/Feathers court is always looking for additional help and resources from individuals and programs interested in volunteering.

Furthermore, additional volunteer opportunities are available for mentoring and tutoring the participants in the program.  

Please send a statement of interest and a resume to Staff Attorney, Susie Bucaro at susie.bucaro@cookcountyil.gov.  

Interested volunteers will be invited to present a proposal of the services they will offer to the WINGS Steering Committee.