Illinois county jails report thousands of “extraordinary or unusual” incidents every year, but the state doesn’t keep track. So we stepped in to shed light on what’s happening inside.
Meredith Newman
Meredith Newman is an embedded investigative reporter with the Illinois Answers Project. Before joining the newsroom, she worked at The News Journal in Wilmington, Delaware and The Capital in Annapolis, Maryland. She is a graduate of Syracuse University and is originally from Evanston, Illinois.
Posted inCriminal Justice & Public Safety
How we built a database of Illinois jail records — and how you can use it to do your own digging
More than four years in the making. Over 65,000 pages of government documents. Nearly a thousand records requests and over a hundred interviews. This is what it took to create […]
Posted inStatewide Investigations
Illinois toddlers are legally entitled to Early Intervention therapies. Here’s what to know
Parents who experience issues with Early Intervention can request mediation and due process hearings or file complaints with the state.
Posted inStatewide Investigations
Early Intervention therapies help kids — but Illinois pays providers less than other states, stalling access
Hundreds of therapists are leaving the program each year, causing some families to miss out on services they’re legally entitled to.
Posted inStatewide Investigations
Too mentally ill for trial, she spent months in an Illinois jail as the state looked for a hospital bed. She died waiting.
Many defendants declared unfit for trial have often waited three months or longer to be transferred to a hospital – regularly exceeding the state’s deadline, an Illinois Answers Project investigation found. The condition of those waiting deteriorates as each day passes, families and lawyers said.
Posted inInvestigating Responses
Illinois Is Turning to Local Jails to Treat Mentally Ill Defendants. Some Early Results Offer Hope — and Warnings
It’s not often that Menard County Jail has a detainee who has been found unfit for trial. The jail, just north of Springfield, is small. With a census that can […]
Posted inStatewide Investigations
How Illinois is now prioritizing outpatient fitness restoration
Gov. JB Pritzker signed a law this summer that public defenders say will better clarify when someone found unfit for trial should undergo outpatient fitness restoration. The law, which goes […]
Posted inInvestigating Responses
‘We’re at the Mercy of Child Care:’ Child Care Costs are Crushing Families — Illinois’ Largest Subsidy Excludes Thousands
While the state infuses hundreds of millions of dollars a year into child care programs, the strict eligibility requirements and limitations for its largest child care subsidy exclude tens of thousands of families.
Posted inInvestigations
Impacts and updates from our “Strapped Down” series
Impacts and updates from our “Strapped Down” series
Posted inStatewide Investigations
He Attempted Suicide. Peoria Jail Restrained Him in a Chair for Five Days.
Peoria County Jail, in recent years, has restrained its charges for longer durations than other jails in the state and far past industry recommendations.
