John Howard Association of Illinois

Summary: Significant problems exist in psychiatric care

On Jan. 26 a group of six John Howard Association board members, staff and volunteers conducted a monitoring tour of Dwight Correctional Center, the main prison for women in Illinois. Dwight is also the reception and classification center for all women entering the state prison system. Reception and classification is a key intake process in which inmates are given physical and mental evaluations and other diagnostic services.

Discussions and interviews with inmates, senior staff on site and the top medical officer for the Illinois Department of Corrections revealed a significant problem.

Inmates in the reception and classification center are waiting for weeks or months to see a psychiatrist and are deprived of needed psychotropic medication during that time. Ordinarily a psychiatric evaluation is one of the first procedures completed when a person enters prison.

Read the full report here (PDF).