Two years after taking office, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration released a progress report outlining key achievements in crime reduction, school investment, housing, youth employment, and labor rights.
Titled Two Years of Investing in People, the document covers May 2023 to May 2025. It breaks down efforts across five areas of focus: community safety, public education, community development, youth programs, and working people.
Here’s what the administration says has changed—and what remains in motion.
Crime and Community Safety
City officials report significant declines in shootings, homicides, robberies, and carjackings. They attribute those drops to the People’s Plan for Community Safety, a collaboration between city agencies and community groups to address violence at the root.
A Robbery Task Force, launched in 2023 after a spike in thefts, is credited with a 37% drop in robberies and a 57% drop in carjackings. The city says CPD also recovered 12,733 guns in 2024.
April 2025, the report notes, saw the lowest number of murders for that month since 1962.
The administration also expanded its support for street outreach workers through Community Violence Intervention (CVI) programs, with new coordination agreements between police and CVI groups in nine districts. A recent study cited in the report says the programs helped drive down shootings by 41%.
Legal action has also been part of the city’s strategy. Chicago filed suit against Glock for selling weapons that can be easily modified into automatic firearms and expanded the lawsuit to include distributors. The city also continues to pursue a case against an Indiana gun shop tied to hundreds of shootings.
CPD promoted 200 detectives, contributing to a homicide clearance rate of 56%—the department’s highest in a decade.
For victims and survivors, the Emergency Supplemental Victims’ Fund expanded to 15 community areas, helping more than 600 families. A pilot program to train Victim Advocates graduated its first class in December 2024.
The city reopened or expanded public mental health clinics in Roseland, Garfield Park, and Pilsen—marking the first such expansion in more than 30 years. CARE response teams now cover twice as many areas and respond to 911 calls with clinicians and EMTs. City data shows that less than 0.1% of CARE encounters resulted in use of force.
To address the opioid crisis, CDPH deployed vending machines with overdose-reversal drugs and hygiene supplies in five high-traffic areas. A summer campaign covered 1,300 blocks on the West Side to deliver outreach and treatment referrals.
Schools and Students
The report highlights gains in public education, citing a national study that ranked CPS students first in the country for post-pandemic reading recovery. Black students’ gains outpaced district averages.
The administration reports more than $1 billion in public investment in CPS over two years, including $300 million in TIF surplus.
In April, CPS and the Chicago Teachers Union reached a new contract agreement—the first in 15 years to be approved without a strike vote. According to the report, the deal includes:
- Doubling the number of libraries and librarians in schools
- Smaller class sizes for all grade levels, especially for kindergartners
- Ensuring social workers and nurses serve students in every school, every instructional day
- More than tripling the number of Sustainable Community Schools, from 20 to 70
- Provides CTU, CPS, City, and sister agency coordination for the first time to provide housing support, Section 8 vouchers, rental assistance, and affordable units to CPS families in need
- Protections for academic freedom, Black history, and culturally relevant curriculum for the first time, as well as Sanctuary Schools for undocumented students, and LGBTQ+ safe schools
- An additional $10 million annual investment in sports programming
City Colleges of Chicago has also seen gains. Enrollment is up 14.9% since FY23. The most significant increases came from Black men (23.1%) and Latino men (17.3%).
The city relaunched a nursing program at Kennedy-King College and introduced a new School of Engineering in partnership with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Housing and Development
The administration secured approval for a $1.25 billion housing and economic development bond—billed as the largest in city history. The first round of funds supported projects in Austin and West Englewood.
The city reports that 3,940 affordable housing units have been built, rehabbed, or preserved, with thousands more under construction or planning. In the Loop, six adaptive reuse proposals will turn office buildings into nearly 1,800 units of mixed-income housing.
The administration also passed the Green Social Housing ordinance and released a “Cut the Tape” plan to streamline the building process. A task force of developers was formed to help the city implement its recommendations.
In 2024, the city’s Plan Commission approved over $11 billion in new development. Another $8 billion has been approved in 2025, with projects like the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park and the 1901 Project on the West Side among the highlights.
The city launched the Missing Middle pilot to address vacant lots and listed 400 lots for sale. It also expanded its legal effort against negligent property owners, securing a $11.5 million settlement involving more than 800 properties on the South and West Sides.
Youth Opportunities
The city expanded its summer jobs program to 29,000 youth in 2025—a 45% increase since 2023.
According to the report:
- 106,860 youth served through the Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS)’s 18 program models
- One hundred fifty-five youth-focused “kickback” events planned by youth throughout the city through the My CHI. My Future. (MCMF) Safe Spaces program, attended by more than 16,750 Chicagoans
- 97% of youth employees agreed that participating in the kickbacks made them feel closer to their communities
- Over 2,000 year-round youth jobs created through DFSS programs like Safe Spaces and the Chicago Youth Service Corps
- Mayor Johnson’s Micro-Grants program distributed $600,000 to youth-serving community-based organizations
- My CHI. My Future. platform connected over 50,000 youth to more than 45,000 opportunities
- The Peacekeeper Pilot program, in collaboration with GoodKids MadCity, employed 100 youth to receive training and promote safety in their communities
- The DSS Laborer’s Trainee Pilot provided 70 recent CPS graduates with hands-on job training; 55 were hired full-time into union roles
Labor and Workers
The administration reports settling contracts with CPD officers, park district employees, and CPS support staff—totaling more than 51,000 workers—with no work stoppages.
A new Paid Time Off ordinance guarantees 10 days of leave annually—five for sick time, five for personal time—impacting 1.2 million workers. The city also passed the One Fair Wage ordinance, phasing out the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers.
In May, the city announced $7 million in new funds to raise pay for early childhood educators.
Johnson’s legal team joined a national lawsuit against mass federal layoffs, resulting in a temporary injunction from a federal judge.
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