• JHA visited all six reentry facilities between July 2022 and July 2023 in order to report on the resources available within IDOC’s best established and most intensive reentry-focused settings. Findings from these visits, data, and JHA’s ongoing communications and survey work indicate that reentry facilities remain relatively successful, productive, and well-received compared to IDOC prisons, and yet are vastly underutilized. Most existing reentry facilities have populations far below reported capacities, and even at full capacity, could only serve a small percentage of the IDOC population potentially meeting eligibility criteria. Further, they remain regionally limited, particularly for women. (Dec 2024)

Ensuring the safe and secure operation of Illinois’ prisons is a critical state function, yet the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) is facing a chronic staffing shortage that jeopardizes the health, safety, and well-being of staff and incarcerated people. The purpose of this report is to document the nature and scope of staffing shortages in Illinois’ prisons, detail the harms to incarcerated people and staff, and make recommendations for urgent and vital action to address the identified challenges. (Oct 2024)

Amidst continued reports in early 2022 of ongoing commissary issues, JHA launched an online survey to seek additional information about the availability of commissary and state-issued items. 92% of survey responses reported issues with purchasing items from commissary or receiving state-issued items.

As a way to gather more direct information about specific issues, conditions, and practices which people inside Illinois prisons experience, JHA has started responding to those who have written to us by asking specific questions. In March 2021, JHA asked incarcerated people who had written to us the month prior to respond to questions on how they access information – both about COVID-19 and in general – and the extent to which they are able to do so.

It is important that we not only reduce the number of youth in any kind of custody, but also improve the standards of care for those who still end up in county detention facilities, or youth jails, and expand the reach of the Office of the Independent Juvenile Ombudsman so that any youth in county or state custody has access to the protections afforded by this effective oversight.

JHA's 2020 Annual Report highlights some of our most important work from this past year and previews some of the initiatives we will be undertaking in 2021. We will continue to fight for the health and safety of those living and working in prisons during this unprecedented time and to advocate for increased transparency and government accountability.

This report highlights our achievements in 2019 and also provides a look forward to our objectives in 2020.

Following herein are some of JHA’s real-world observations made in the process of accompanying and, at times, endeavoring to assist people as they attempted to access critical reentry supports, resources and services following their release from prison.

This report is intended to bring renewed and increased attention to the problems faced by people within IDOC with respect to communications.

The John Howard Association of Illinois had the opportunity to visit the Kane County Juvenile Justice Center (Kane JJC) in June of 2017. Kane JJC, located in St. Charles, Illinois, was built in 1997.

JHA's three-part series of reports focus on increasing independent oversight of Illinois’ juvenile detention facilities and juvenile courts, and ensuring youths’ rights to meaningful access to the courts and counsel are met.

The last year was marked by tremendous progress, worrisome stagnation, and regressive divisiveness. In 2016, there was significant movement on the national and local levels around criminal justice system policy and practices impacting prison reform efforts in Illinois.

From the National Resource Center on Justice Involved Women and the Women's Justice Initiative, this report was authored by Executive Director of CORE Associates, Alyssa Benedict, and the Women’s Justice Initiative Founder & Project Director, Deanne Benos.

This memo distills the complexities of the 32-page Rasho settlement agreement (the Agreement) into more understandable terms and clarifies the timelines for implementing certain changes so that the public has the information needed to understand IDOC’s responsibilities under the Agreement’s terms.

This report follows JHA's visit to the Depke Juvenile Complex (Depke) in Lake County, which houses both the Hulse Juvenile Detention Center and a residential treatment facility for youth

Youth, or individuals under the age of 18, may still be tried as adults in Illinois. Youth with adult sentences can be housed in Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) custody once they turn 17, including both youth entering from county custody on new adult sentences or those transferred from Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ) facilities.

A blueprint for the implementation of risk asset needs assessment and system change in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

In 2010-11, through the generous support of the MacArthur Foundation’s Models for Change initiative, JHA assessed the state of the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), reforms achieved, problem areas in need of change, and obstacles to those changes.

Childhood exposure to traumatic events can cause developmental issues and is associated with a variety of behavioral symptoms. The plasticity of the brain, meaning the ability to change and adapt based on exposure to different stimuli, is a crucial aspect of brain development.

The political campaign season is the worst time to make good policy. Now that Illinois’ elections are over, Governor Quinn and legislators need to fix a growing problem in the state’s prison system.

On October 26, 2010, John Howard Association staff and volunteers conducted a monitoring visit of the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (CCJTDC).

The Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) is testing video visiting to make it easier for inmates to remain in touch with family and friends, a critical factor in an ex- inmates’s return to society.

For much of the past decade, Illinois has allowed its prison vocational and academic programs to wither away. While the prison population has grown, the opportunity for inmates to learn a skill or earn postsecondary academic certificates has shrunk.

This is the twenty-sixth in a series of reports by the John Howard Association of Illinois on inmate population, crowding and conditions at the Cook County Department of Corrections (CCDOC) as these factors relate to the provisions of the Consent Decree in this litigation

The data from this report is based on site visits made by staff, consultants and volunteers of the John Howard Association during calendar year 2009.

The purpose of this report is to provide information to legislative leaders and the general public on the level of employees currently on staff in the secure facilities operated by the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice.