John Howard Association of Illinois

01/02/2025

JHA's Fatima Monteiro is thrilled to be part of the Illinois Prison Project’s Ambassador Fellowship Program! Sharing the stories of those impacted by the system is critical to pushing for real reform.

12/31/2024

Happy New Year from JHA! We look forward to partnering with you in 2025 - thank you for your support. www.thejha.org/donate

12/27/2024

It's not too late to make a year end donation! Thank you for your support of our work. www.thejha.org/donate

12/26/2024

12/23/2024

Scenes from our recent Staff & Board Holiday Party - we are very grateful for everyone's commitment to JHA's mission!

12/20/2024

Tune in on Sun. 12/22 2-4pm CT! WBEZ’s Prisoncast! focuses on providing hope, messages & info to people in IDOC from those outside. JHA's ED Jenny Vollen-Katz & Community Advocate Tony Thomas were thrilled to talk with WBEZ about the impact of lockdowns on people who are incarcerated.

WBEZ's Prisoncast! is all about providing news, information, music and audio to people currently and formerly incarcerated and their loved ones.

12/19/2024

JHA is thrilled to welcome our new Governing Board Members! Thank you for sharing your expertise and passion with JHA.
Vanessa Ground, Senior Director of Customer Experience & Marketing at GATX
Michael Linden, Associate at Jenner & Block
Ankur Shingal, Senior Managing Associate at Sidley Austin

12/18/2024

NEW REPORT! IDOC's LSRCs and ATCs remain relatively successful, productive, and well-received compared to IDOC prisons, and yet are vastly underutilized. Read the full report here:
https://bit.ly/jha-reentry-1

12/17/2024

"The Illinois Department of Corrections is investigating the Illinois Department of Corrections in this situation," Vollen-Katz said. "Anyone who's not concerned about that, I think, has a very naive view of how an investigation is supposed to run."

"It lacks integrity, it lacks transparency, and it's hugely problematic," Vollen-Katz said.

Andrew Ortega, sent to prison after violating the terms of his work-release program by failing a drug test, was housed with a convicted murderer.

12/17/2024

Last week JHA staff and volunteers undertook a monitoring visit of Logan, one of IDOC's 2 women's prisons. JHA's unique access to see, hear from, and listen to incarcerated people across the state is at the heart of our mission, our day-to-day efforts, and our advocacy. Thank you to all at Logan who shared their stories and experiences with us.

12/16/2024

JHA is working to identify alternative ways of improving health outcomes of people in prison which involve those incarcerated providing peer-to-peer support and gaining valuable skills and experience.

Please share any information you have with us via our website at www.thejha.org/contactform Thank you for your help!

12/13/2024

"Vollen-Katz said states that have switched to scanned mail haven’t solved their drug issues. For example, in Pennsylvania, where the rate of random positive drug tests among incarcerated people doubled the rate it was before the mail scanning system went into effect."

At issue is concerns over drug exposures tied to physical mail and whether paper should be digitally scanned for incarcerated people. That debate may be over as IDOC signed a contract in October that will give the department the ability to scan physical mail and deliver digital copies, according to....

12/09/2024

Last week JHA led a monitoring visit to Illinois Youth Center Chicago. Thank you to all there who spoke with us - hearing your experiences firsthand is an important component of our prison monitoring & advocacy work.

12/05/2024

Thank you for making our so successful! JHA is extremely grateful for the support of so many committed and generous people and organizations, and appreciate your steadfastness in strengthening the fight for system change and the impact of JHA. www.thejha.org/GT2024

12/02/2024

Illinois has too many prisons – as well as too many unsafe, decrepit, and inhumane prisons – for our incarcerated population, with not enough staff to adequately cover them all. By closing some of our worst prisons and reallocating that staff to other facilities, we could better use resources to support the needs of incarcerated people and improve living and working conditions without realizing any job loss for staff.

You can help JHA in calling for prison closures and reduced lockdowns by donating to JHA today for . Every dollar impacts our work; you can help us make a difference for those who are incarcerated. Thank you.

11/29/2024

Join JHA in calling for prison closures and reduced lockdowns by donating to JHA for . Every donation makes a impact! www.thejha.org/gt2024

11/27/2024

JHA staff and volunteers were pleased to lead monitoring visits to Lawrence and Vandalia Correctional Centers last week. We thank all who spoke to us - hearing your experiences firsthand is an important component of our prison monitoring & advocacy work.