Educational access within prisons must be expanded. In Illinois, we have evidence that Correctional Post-Secondary Education has a $38.75 return on investment on every dollar for the State. Given this figure, it would stand to reason that the public and lawmakers would embrace education in prisons as a cost-saving investment of State funds; unfortunately, this is not the case.
Read MoreThe John Howard Association of Illinois congratulates Rob Jeffreys on his appointment as the new Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections and thanks Director Baldwin for his work in Illinois over the past four years.
Read MoreIf passed into law, this bill will encourage people in prison serving long prison sentences to engage in programming that will better prepare them for reentry into our communities and reduce recidivism.
Read MoreTestimony in support of HB 2045 to the Senate Criminal Law Committee of the 101st Illinois General Assembly, May 7, 2019.
HB 2045 will repeal the statutory language compelling IDOC to collect a $5 co-pay from inmates who request medical services. Elimination of the co-pay will be cost effective, and result in healthier, safer prisons to the benefit of inmates, staff, and the State of Illinois as a whole.
Read MoreIf passed into law, this bill will encourage people in prison serving long prison sentences to engage in programming that will better prepare them for reentry into our communities and reduce recidivism.
Read MorePlease do not reduce IDOC’s funding because the population is down. The lower population can be attributed to a reduction in new court admissions, which is most likely the result of the dramatic drop in arrests for criminal offenses that has occurred over the past few years. IDOC has no control over how many people are sentenced to prison, and the downward trend of arrests can reverse at any time.
Read MoreIf passed into law, this bill will establish a centralized, comprehensive State-wide reporting system for the timely, accurate collection of data from all law enforcement, detention and correctional entities
Read MoreJHA testified in support of SB 1158, a bill that will no longer allow the state of Illinois to seek reimbursement for the cost of incarceration for those who are in or leaving prison.
Read MoreToday, Governor Bruce Rauner has righted an outrageous wrong by commuting the sentences of six youth who were unfairly prosecuted in Saline County due to behavior occurring at the Illinois Youth Center-Harrisburg.
Read MoreJHA calls for the following modifications to be made to the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) proposed rule changes for 20 Ill. Adm. Code 107.
Read MoreUncertainty breeds stress and discontent. This is especially true for prisoners who do not know when they will be exiting prison doors, which is the primary concern of most. Additionally, uncertainty about when prisoners will be leaving prison makes planning for reentry unnecessarily more difficult for prisoners, their families, and the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC).
Read MoreYesterday Governor Rauner issued an amendatory veto to House Bill 5104, which abolished the $5 co-pay Illinois prisoners must pay to see a doctor. The Governor cited balancing “the need to provide medical services with potential abuses of a free medical system that could create significant backlogs in an already overburdened Corrections healthcare system.”
Read MoreSneaking in controversial policy riders to pending legislation is a time-honored though unsavory political tactic. Governor Rauner’s attempt to bring back the death penalty by commandeering pending gun control legislation seems to be exactly that: an act of partisan gamesmanship, cynical opportunism and unprincipled politicking.
Read MoreAs Illinois’ sole citizen prison oversight organization, JHA believes that more oversight and scrutiny of our correctional system is critical in order to identify the unmet needs of incarcerated individuals, provide increased transparency in a profoundly troubled environment that is rife with human rights violations, and to hold our corrections system and administrators accountable for the treatment, programming, and care of the over 41,000 people in state custody today.
Read MoreIn order for Illinois’ prisons to be safe for adults and youth in its custody, as well as the staff and administrators that work inside them, immediate improvements in conditions, treatment, accountability, communication, and structural changes must be made. Noting that IDOC and IDJJ are different in size, scope and where each system is on a continuum of change, JHA offers the following recommendations to achieve a safer system that will produce better individual outcomes and increased public safety.
Read MoreOn September 6th, Governor Rauner signed Executive Order 2017-05, establishing the Governor’s Opioid Prevention and Intervention Task Force. Concurrently, the Governor’s Office issued the State of Illinois Opioid Action Plan. The purpose of the new Task Force is to implement the Action Plan with the stated goals of preventing further spread of the opioid crisis, treating and promoting the recovery of individuals with opioid use disorder, and responding effectively to avert opioid overdose deaths.
Read MoreJHA has long urged Illinois to revisit the effectiveness of our sex offender management laws and address barriers to reentry. These issues were stressed in JHA’s 2013 report on the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) facility Big Muddy River Correctional Center, where more than 50% of the population, nearly 1,000 men, are identified as sex offenders, including the civilly committed Sexually Dangerous Persons (SDP) population.
Read MoreJHA believes that the State of Illinois should provide a state identification card to all people leaving the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections and the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice at no cost to the incarcerated individual.
Read MoreIn July of 2017 the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act, S. 1524, was introduced by U.S. Senators Corey Booker (NJ), Kamala Harris (CA), Elizabeth Warren (MA) and Illinois’ senior Senator Richard Durbin. As Illinois’ only independent, non-partisan prison watchdog and advocate for a fair, humane and effective criminal justice system, the John Howard Association of Illinois (JHA) applauds this step.
Read MoreThe John Howard Association applauds Governor Bruce Rauner for signing Senate Bill 1413 into law. This new law allows men and women to receive their birth certificate for no fee upon their release from the Department of Corrections, which removes one of the largest obstacles for returning citizens to obtain state identification cards once they leave prison.
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