Fledgling dial-a-ride networks are filling gaps in public transit in the collar counties, but they struggle to meet demand.
Grace Hauck
Grace Hauck is an investigative reporter with Illinois Answers Project’s State Investigations Team. Before joining Illinois Answers, she worked for USA TODAY in Chicago in various roles, including breaking news, enterprise and criminal justice reporting. She grew up in New Jersey and is a graduate of the University of Chicago.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
A Little-Known Legal Loophole Has Scrambled State Efforts to Save Transit Agencies From Financial Disaster
Suburban counties last year spent $83M in RTA sales taxes on jails and courts, and they are not giving that money up as the state scrapes for cash.
Posted inStatewide Investigations
[Video] Strapped Down: Investigating Restraint Chairs in Illinois Jails
The Illinois Answers Project’s “Strapped Down” series investigated the overuse, misuse and abuse of restraint chairs in county jails across Illinois.
Posted inInvestigating Responses
How three states are addressing the use and abuse of restraint chairs
The “Strapped Down” series investigated the use of restraint chairs in county jails. For the final stories in the series, we’re examining how three other states have addressed the use and misuse of restraint chairs.
Posted inInvestigating Responses
A Mentally Ill Man Died After Being Restrained. His Family’s Advocacy Led to Statewide Changes in California.
The knock came around midnight.
The officers told Carty Holland that his son, Andrew, had died at the county jail.
“They didn’t tell me how he passed,” Holland said. “The ugliness of it came later on.”
Posted inCriminal Justice & Public Safety
Iowa Jails Abused Restraint Chairs. A Watchdog Agency Intervened, Spurring Reform.
Two Iowa jails have made reforms after an ombudsman report found the facilities were restraining people with mental illnesses in chairs for long periods of time.
Posted inInvestigating Responses
This Pennsylvania County Banned Restraint Chairs at its Jail. Public Data Was Key.
Jason Porter takes comfort in knowing restraint chairs have been banned from Allegheny County Jail.
He was strapped down in the controversial device for six hours without food or water in 2020. His testimony bolstered by public data helped bring about a ban on restraint chairs at Allegheny County Jail.
Posted inStatewide Investigations
Cook County Jail restrained people in chairs 874 times — and never reported it to the state
State standards require jails to report the use of restraint chairs on incarcerated people. Cook County Jail never did.
Posted inStatewide Investigations
Champaign County Jail Begins Tracking and Reporting Use of Restraint Chairs to the State for the First Time
Champaign County Jail updated the way it documents, tracks and reports use of restraint chairs after an Illinois Answers Project investigation raised questions about the facility’s record-keeping practices and failure to report incidents to a state oversight unit.
Posted inStatewide Investigations
People were Strapped to Chairs for Hours, Days at Madison County Jail. Many were Mentally Ill or in Withdrawal.
Of all Illinois jails, Madison County has the most incidents of restraint lasting longer than 10 hours–the upper limit set by the chair manufacturer. The jail said they’re not equipped to care for so many mentally ill detainees.
