About Us
The John Howard Association of Illinois is a (501) (c) (3) non-profit organization incorporated in Illinois. It was founded in 1901 by reform-minded business and legal leaders concerned about the harshness of incarceration and sentencing. In the intervening decades it created programs to assist defendants in Chicago’s criminal courts, developed visiting programs for police lock-ups, jails, juvenile facilities and state prisons, promoted reforms such as separation of juveniles from adult offenders in jail and improved treatment of incarcerated women, and investigated abuses in all levels of correctional institutions.
In the 1980’s and 1990’s its staff developed an expertise in corrections to the extent that its staff consulted across the country for local, state, and the federal government. In recent years, it has focused on sentencing and the conditions of confinement for men, women and juveniles in Illinois’s jails, prisons and juvenile facilities. The Association is one of three state organizations nationwide that visits correctional institutions and is unique for the access it is given to Illinois correctional facilities.
The organization and its staff serve as Monitors appointed by the federal courts in litigation involving the Cook County Jail and the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. It draws upon the insights of its volunteer visitors, staff and consultants to develop recommendations for correctional institutions, policy statements, and reports intended to inform the public about sentencing and corrections issues in Illinois.
The John Howard Association of Illinois holds one Annual Meeting each year, attended by volunteers, members, supporting organizations and law firms, business leaders, and court and correctional professionals. Board of Directors and Advisory Committee The John Howard Association of Illinois is governed by its Board of Directors and assisted in its work by members of an Advisory Committee. The Board is accepting nominations to the Board of Directors in January 2007 for election to the Board in the first calendar quarter of 2007. For a roster of our Current Board members, officers, and members of the Advisory Committee, click here.
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