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What We Do

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Monitoring

Independent prison monitoring is the heart of JHA’s work.

Our staff and volunteers visit approximately 20 correctional facilities every year to evaluate conditions for incarcerated people and staff. During our observation visits, we focus on issues including medical and mental health care, disciplinary procedures, the physical condition of facilities, and educational and vocational programming. We point out concerns and problems and also highlight productive, innovative programs and initiatives that can serve as models for other facilities.

 
View our methodology
COMPARATIVE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEMS WORK
OUR POLICY ON LANGUAGE USE
WHY WE ISSUE REPORTS
ABOUT THE ILLINOIS PRISON POPULATION
 

Special Reports

We publish periodic special reports highlighting case studies, stories and issues impacting our correctional system.

 
 

Reports and Surveys

Oversight, transparency and accountability are the cornerstones of correctional system reform.

Reports

JHA publishes regular reports on prison conditions in Illinois and special reports on issues impacting our correctional system.

Reports are based on our prison monitoring visits, observations, interviews with and written surveys from both staff and incarcerated people, interviews and information exchange with prison administrators, correspondence from those housed in correctional facilities, and information provided directly by the Illinois Department of Corrections.

READ email overviews of published reports

Surveys

We collect voluntary, anonymous surveys of both staff and incarcerated people during adult correctional center visits. Survey results enhance and amplify our monitoring work by incorporating the attitudes and opinions of incarcerated people and prison employees. Survey data provides useful comparisons among facilities and changes in perceptions over time, and is critical to amplifying the voices of incarcerated people and staff beyond prison walls. Find individual facility survey reports using the report finder or the buttons below.

2018-2019 survey data dashboard
2020 COVID-19 survey data
2022-2023 Measuring the quality of prison life survey data & data dashboard
2025 prison survey

Search for facilities and their reports using the search bar below or browse facilities by criteria using the drop down menus.

 
 
EXTERNAL REPORTS

 Prison Communications Data & Reports

JHA serves as a critical resource and outlet for incarcerated people in Illinois. Incarcerated individuals often have limited access to information from reliable sources and little contact with the outside world. JHA provides a human connection as well as needed information.

JHA reads every letter and email sent to us, and listens to all voicemails; we track the information reported to us. This provides us with valuable quantitative information we use in our advocacy work - both when working with individual correctional facilities and when seeking system-wide reform. Unfortunately, as demand has outpaced supply, we are currently unable to respond to all communications sent to us.

Explore reports about and data from our prison communications program below or view ways to contact us.

 
View Glossary
 
 

IDOC Data & Analysis

 

Age at custody as of 6/30/22

Age at custody over time

Comparison at age of custody at Stateville vs. all other facilities

Data Visualization Tools for Illinois Prison Population

The data visualization tools below enable different presentations of data regarding the Illinois prison population – they can be limited by date and prison and have different tabs for looking at different variables. These were built from IDOC’s public datasets using the methodology described here. IDOC’s official admissions and recidivism rates are reported in fact sheets publicly available on IDOC’s website. Any errors found in these tools should be attributed to JHA.

  • Single deep dive: Allows you to look at different multi-level single variables (e.g., age, sex, race, offense type, etc.) of the IDOC prison population as of a particular date.

  • Compare facilities: Allows you to look at the population of a particular IDOC prison compared to the rest of the IDOC population over time.

  • Change over time: Allows you to look at the IDOC prison population’s change over time for various variables.

Learn more

Additional data & analyses available:

IDOC DEATHS IN CUSTODY DATA VISUALIZATION
Benchmarking department of corrections budgets (april 2024)
Statistical profile of people incarcerated in IDOC as of 12/31/20
Statistical Profile of People on MSR/Parole Status for IDOC as of 12/31/20
EXTERNAL DATA & ANALYSIS from ICJIA
external cook county criminal justice data dashboard
idoc indicator tool from idoc, NYU's Marron Institute and WJI

Art & Writing from
People Incarcerated in Illinois

Cartoon by Arkee Chaney, a formerly incarcerated artist.  www.arkeestudios.com

Cartoon by Arkee Chaney, a formerly incarcerated artist. www.arkeestudios.com

Each year, JHA receives hundreds of letters from people who are incarcerated. Some of those letters contain poems, cartoons, or other pieces of art that incarcerated people wish to share with us. Incarcerated people also share other publications with us, including articles and magazines created for their peers. While we can only showcase a sample on our website, we greatly appreciate receiving what people send to us. This section is generously sponsored by The Di Lullo Family.

view art & writing