A new John Howard Association report is calling attention to an ongoing staffing crisis throughout the Illinois prison system that experts contend is now having an adverse effect on inmates and staff members alike.
In the recently released report, researchers show the growing shortage in manpower has led to more lockdowns that have impacted the overall health, safety and well-being of all those involved inmates.
“Among the big takeaways, what we know is that across the system [the Illinois Department of Corrections] has been experiencing about a 29% staffing vacancy rate and the majority of those positions are security positions,” Vollen-Katz told The Center Square. “What that means is it’s very difficult for people who work in IDOC to move people who are incarcerated, which impacts access to phones and showers and things that are really meaningful.”…