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.
Investigating Responses
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 inInvestigating Responses
Six Ways Cities Are Trying to Keep Rental Properties and Tenants Safe
In some places with crime-free housing laws, landlords must kick out tenants who have had too much contact with the police.
Posted inInvestigating Responses
Amid Budget Tensions, City Council Members Push to Bring Some Sunshine to City Spending
Other big city governments have robust watchdogs, paid for by taxpayers, to analyze city budgets and financial deals. The City Council’s anemic office could use some brawn, some alderpeople argue.
Posted inInvestigating Responses
Chicago is Debating Lowering its Speed Limit. Other Cities Aren’t Waiting.
New York, Seattle, Boston and other cities have long since lowered their speed limits — and gotten results, data shows.
Posted inInvestigating Responses
A New City Tree Trim Strategy Produces Big Results. Not Everyone Is On Board.
City workers are pruning trees more than twice as quickly after an overhaul that gives alderpeople less power to control services.
Posted inInvestigating Responses
A Mentally Ill Man was Restrained in a Chair for 68 hours at Franklin County Jail, Violating Policies, Report says
One man was restrained for 68 hours, another for 27 hours. Both were mentally ill. The jail’s own policies say restraint should never last more than 10 hours.
An Illinois disability rights watchdog group says the jail violated both its own policies and state standards.
Posted inInvestigating Responses
This Coastal State’s Approach to Flooding May Be a Model for Illinois Communities
Illinois and New Jersey have a problem in common: Flooding, and its devastation on communities. Here, the Illinois Answers Project examines why New Jersey’s work on this front is seen as a national model.
Posted inInvestigations, Equity & Economic Opportunity, Follow-Up, Investigating Responses
CHA Residents Rip CEO At Hearing: ‘We Need Something Much Better Than This’
Resident leaders and even a member of the Chicago Housing Authority board called for CEO Tracey Scott to go, but some alderpeople praised “progress” at the agency.
Posted inInvestigating Responses
Chatham Flooding Mitigation Program Flounders, But Oak Park Sees Success
A program called RainReady has proven to help mitigate flooding – so much so that there’s a waitlist in Oak Park. But despite Chicago’s promise to launch in 2019, it’s not yet off the ground.
