John Howard Association

Standards, Oversight For Jailed Kids Need To Improve: Watchdog Report

By Maureen Foertsch McKinney • Apr 7, 2021

A prison watchdog group in Illinois is calling on the state to take a bigger role in scrutinizing Illinois’ 16 pre-trial juvenile detention centers.

What Can Illinois' Jails And Prisons Do To Improve The Lives Of The Children Of The Incarcerated?

By Maureen Foertsch McKinney • Jan 9, 2020

Advocates have ideas being hashed out by a state task force.

Attorney Alexis Mansfield said her clients have told her troubling stories of what happens when small children reach the glass in a jail that separates them from a parent.

Lawmakers Renew Effort To Eliminate Prisoner Medical Co-Pays

By Dana Vollmer • May 13, 2019

doctor medicine stethocope — Chemist 4 U - Flickr / CC-by 2.0

Illinois lawmakers want to eliminate medical co-pays for prisoners.

Report: Prisoners In Work Release Program Struggle With Healthcare Costs, State IDs

By Dana Vollmer • Jan 31, 2019

CREDIT FLICKR USER / MICHAEL COGHLAN "PRISON BARS" (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Some women incarcerated in Illinois have not been receiving all the same benefits as their male counterparts.

Effort To Eliminate Medical Co-Pay For Prison Inmates Fails

By Mary Hansen • Dec 3, 2018

Illinois prison inmates will continue to pay $5 for medical and dental visits, after the legislature tried and failed to get rid of the fee last week.

Prison reform advocates want to eliminate the co-pay, saying it deters inmates from seeking necessary treatment. An Illinois Department of Corrections spokeswoman emphasized that no one is denied care for not being able to pay.

The effort to get rid of the co-pay comes at a time when medical care in the correctional system is under scrutiny due to a class-action lawsuit in federal court.

Does Illinois Put Too Many Prisoners In Solitary?

By Brian Mackey • May 11, 2016

The use of solitary confinement has drawn increasing scrutiny nationwide. And last week, the John Howard Association issued a statement (PDF) on the practice in Illinois prisons.

The John Howard Association is an independent watchdog, monitoring conditions and advocating for more humane treatment in Illinois prisons. We spoke to the group's director, Jennifer Vollen-Katz.

Adult Redeploy: Paying To Keep People Out Of Prison

By Brian Mackey • Jan 1, 2015

Illinois has a clear ambition for what it would like to do with members of its criminal class, and it’s right there in the name of the state agency set up to deal with them: the Department of Corrections. But there is a wide gap between ambition and practice. This is not to blame the department: politicians enacted the policies that have swelled the prison population, and politicians are largely responsible for the dire financial condition of the state that has squeezed agencies like the DOC.

Report Faults State For Closing Women's Prison

By Brian Mackey • Dec 15, 2014

Illinois’ main prison for women has nearly 2,000 inmates. An outside monitor says that’s the result of poor planning when Illinois closed the prison at Dwight nearly two years ago.

The majority of Illinois female inmates are incarcerated at Logan Correctional Center in central Illinois.

John Howard Association director John Maki says the state ought not be housing 1,985 women in a prison built to hold 1,106.

Clock Ticking On Illinois Prison Crowding

By Brian Mackey • Oct 1, 2014

A watchdog group says whoever wins the race for governor is going to face difficult choices about Illinois’ prisons. The group on Wednesday is laying out what it’s calling a “roadmap” for overhauling crime and punishment — and wants to know where the candidates stand.

The non-partisan John Howard Association says decades of “tough on crime” policies have led Illinois to lock up 49,000 people in a system designed to hold 32,000.

In Some Illinois Prisons, Two Meals A Day

By Brian Mackey • Sep 16, 2013

More and more prisoners in Illinois are being served brunch, eating two meals a day instead of three. Prison officials say it's actually better for many inmates.

Feeding prisoners is a lot of work — not only cooking and cleaning up, but moving inmates from cells or dorms over to the mess hall.

Illinois Department of Corrections spokesman Tom Shaer says at some prisons, breakfast is served at 4 a.m., which means moving inmates in the dark.

State of the State: Policy Change Could Bring Needed Reform to Corrections

By Jamey Dunn-Thomason • Sep 1, 2013

The Illinois Department of Corrections is in the early stages of rolling out a new systemwide policy that advocates say could be one of the biggest reforms in the agency in recent history.