John Howard Association

Juvenile justice program jha provides correctional oversight of ils dept of juvenile justice faciltiies and programs. Jha goes into every juvenile facility to observe, ask questions, and talk to youth and staff inside the institutions in order to assess whether youth needs are being met in terms of treatment, education, programming, counseling, and conditions inside the il youth centers.

Prison response unit - the illinois administrative code designates jha as the only recipient of privileged mail from the prison system that is not a state agency or an individuals legal representative. This unique role allows people who are incarcerated to write to jha regarding their true concerns and issues they are experiencing without having fear of retaliation or negative consequences. Jha also conducts surveys of those incarcerated in il prisons. Jha maintains a database of the data and information collected, which allows the organization to track trends to help in proposing policy solutions to problems as they emerge.