(WTTW News)
Prisons in Illinois are currently facing a staffing crisis, according to a new report from the prison watchdog group the John Howard Association. It found understaffing greatly increases the amount of lockdowns and staff overtime and impacts the overall health, safety and well-being of staff and incarcerated people.
“I hope that people … understand the complexity of the situation and the system and that you cannot divorce the safety, well-being and humanity of the people who live inside our prison from the people who work inside of our prisons,” Jenny Vollen-Katz, executive director of the John Howard Association, told WTTW News.
There was a 28% deficit for security staff and 23% overall deficit from authorized facility-based staffing as of Sept. 1, 2024, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections. Overall, the report said there’s been a steady decline in security staff numbers since 2018.
That has a noticeable impact on operations: 60% of staff who responded to a John Howard Association survey indicated that staff absences prevent their facility from running properly.
“My primary concern is getting more staff and individuals to fill the entire facility,” a worker wrote in a previous report from the association. “This place helps staff and individuals in many ways; being able to help more people all around and have great impact.”
In a statement, the Illinois Department of Corrections said that they “have taken proactive measures to mitigate the impact of these shortages, including ramping up recruitment efforts statewide and expanding staff wellness initiatives.”
For example, they said they filled specific positions dedicated to increasing the availability of staff wellness training and resources and have expanded recruitment efforts to weekend sessions.
“Ensuring the safety, health, and well-being of staff and individuals in custody remains our highest priority at IDOC. While we acknowledge an increase in total lockdowns, IDOC is actively taking steps to address the underlying challenges. These efforts aim to improve staffing levels, increase staff wellness, and promote facility safety,” their statement continues.
In review of a draft of the new report, AFSCME Council 31, the union that represents most employees within IDOC, stated that “addressing staffing concerns in the department requires a comprehensive strategy that focuses on long-term solutions and collaboration.”
When facilities are short-staffed, time out of cells or sleeping areas is usually the first thing to suffer, the report states. Lockdowns, typically meaning facility-wide restrictions consistent with solitary confinement or restrictive housing, have risen 285% from the financial year 2019 to 2024, it continues.
Lockdowns, typically meaning facility-wide restrictions consistent with solitary confinement or restrictive housing, have risen 285% from the financial year 2019 to 2024. (John Howard Association)
Lockdown data is broken into two categories: incident- and administrative-based. Incident-based lockdowns are used in the event of a critical incident that impacts facility security, while administrative-based lockdowns are used for more routine disruptions to facility operations, often linked to insufficient staffing levels, the report details.
These restrictions can limit incarcerated people’s access to programming, work, recreation, phone calls, visitation and other activities for significant periods of time. When these programs and supports are limited or cut off altogether, there are significant impacts to mental health and levels of stress, according to the report.
“The lockdowns due to staff shortages. You never know if we’re gonna wake up on lockdowns and for how long,” someone incarcerated at Dixon Correctional Center wrote in a John Howard Association survey conducted from 2022-2023. “Even when you’re not on lockdown, they never run other programs like school, chapel, and yard. I have not been to the yard since May this year. The gym was closed down on March 2020 and it has not been opened yet. I doubt it ever will…”
Staffing shortages can also impact the ability to provide adequate medical care, to process both legal and non-legal mail and to continue educational, behavioral health and vocational programs.
Meanwhile, existing staffers are put into overtime to compensate for staffing shortages. Overtime hours totaled 1,910,527 and cost IDOC $95.5 million in the 2022 financial year, according to a report published by the Illinois Auditor General. The facilities with the highest overtime rates had the highest staff vacancy rates, the John Howard Association report states.
“Based on the staggering use of overtime and compensatory time, it is clear that staff are shouldering an immense burden to maintain operations,” the report says.
That burden weighs on staff: A John Howard Association survey found that less than one-third of staff reported feeling valued as a member of staff by IDOC. Only 18% of staff respondents indicated that they trust IDOC. And 74% of staff respondents indicated that having to work double shifts because of staff shortages causes resentment.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution, the report states. For a first step, the association recommends having an independent consultant conduct a workforce planning analysis, similar to the analysis from justice facility planning firm CGL that the state commissioned over deferred maintenance and building infrastructure.
To provide “urgent relief,” the John Howard Association further recommends that IDOC increase transparency around data on staffing, improve living and working conditions, change the department’s culture, streamline the hiring process and expand recruitment and retention incentives.
It also recommends that the state close prisons and consolidate populations where possible. The report points to the Illinois prison population seeing a historic drop over the last decade: The prison population decreased by approximately 42%, from nearly 50,000 in 2012 to just over 29,000 at the end of 2023.
This, as the state moves forward with plans to close and rebuild both Stateville and Logan correctional centers.
“When I think of rebuild, I don’t think about expanding the carceral footprint in terms of building lots of new bed space — we don't need lots of new bed space,” Vollen-Katz said. “But what we do need is a different kind of space: spaces that are program-focused, that are treatment-focused, that are located in communities that have resources.”
In review of a draft of the report, AFSCME Council 31 said it objects “to the notion that closing prisons is the best way to address staffing concerns.”
“Staffing issues at facilities could very well worsen with closures rather than improve,” the union’s statement said, “particularly if the incarcerated population is moved but staffing levels aren’t improved within the receiving facility. That said, we support the rebuilding of Stateville and Logan and continue to advocate for additional investments to address the decades of disinvestment in the state’s correctional facilities.”
Note: This story was updated on Oct. 23 to include a statement from the IDOC.
Contact Blair Paddock: @blairpaddock | [email protected]
