Statement of the John Howard Association on the Need to Address Under-Resourced, Under-Staffed, and Inhumane Prisons in Illinois

As Illinois realizes a meaningful decrease in the state prison population, there is opportunity to make meaningful changes. The current prison population stands at approximately 28,000 people, far below the close to 37,000 people in custody in March of 2020 and the total rated capacity for all of the facilities run by IDOC, which is just over 32,000. Given a shrinking population, statewide staffing vacancies in IDOC, old and decrepit prisons or living units that are not fit for human habitation, and lack of resources for programming and treatment, both short and long terms plan for system reorganization and change must be made and shared publicly.