Introduction

Last year, Cook County launched The Policy Roadmap 2024-2027, a strategic plan documenting our goals and charting the path for the next four years. Outlined in the plan is a policy-driven, strategic approach that aligns the work of the Cook County Offices Under the President (OUP) in six priority areas: health and wellness, economic and community development, safety and justice, climate resiliency, public infrastructure and technology, and good government.

Since the release of the first Policy Roadmap in 2018, under the leadership of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, OUP has launched numerous initiatives in line with the original plan while adapting and responding to significant, emerging needs. Through a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic and historic economic and housing downturn to the mass protests regarding policing and the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement, plus the ever-growing climate crisis, the Policy Roadmap provided a framework for Cook County’s strong response and leadership.

Building on its internal work to operationalize racial equity, the Cook County Equity Fund, created in 2021, established a budgeting vehicle with dedicated revenues, and launched a portfolio of meaningful systems-change efforts to drive racial equity. The $1 billion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocation the County received from the federal government funded COVID-19 mitigation and public health programs, as well as economic and community recovery initiatives. Together, these marked significant financial and programmatic investments that aimed to advance equity and were rooted in the Policy Roadmap.

This report captures implementation progress for the first year of the Cook County Policy Roadmap 2024-2027: Four Year Strategic Plan for Offices Under the President (OUP). In the year following its publication, OUP has advanced implementation by creating action plans to achieve the strategies, objectives and goals of the Policy Roadmap 2024-2027 and convening pillar members to share progress and enable interdepartmental collaboration. In line with the Policy Roadmap’s goal to fold varied streams of reporting under its umbrella, this report also includes a progress update on the Equity Fund. Improving outcomes for residents through this policy framework requires a continued focus on Cook County’s values of equity, engagement, and excellence, as well as continuous coordination and collaboration between OUP, separately elected Cook County officials, and other partners. Through the goals and objectives outlined in the Policy Roadmap 2024-2027 Cook County strives to create more healthy, sustainable, connected, safe and thriving, open and vital communities.