Illinois lawmakers decry prison's 'gut-wrenching,' 'heartbreaking' conditions

Illinois lawmakers are calling for changes at the Joliet Treatment Center, after a Marshall Project, Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ investigation exposed an epidemic of fires that resulted in two deaths at the prison.

In the last three years, there have been more than 70 fires at the prison, including a dozen cases of self-immolation, the investigation found.

Despite the prevalence of fires, the facility in Joliet failed to have working fire alarms, to provide evacuation plans to fire officials or to allow ambulances to quickly enter and leave prison grounds, according to government records.

“The highest levels of administration are so incompetent, and it's just a shame,” said state Sen.Terri Bryant, a Republican based in Murphysboro. “People's lives are in jeopardy.”

Bryant, who worked in corrections for 20 years, said it’s not just incarcerated people who are at risk. People employed at the facilities are also exposed to smoke and don’t have the proper equipment to respond to blazes.

State Sen. Robert Peters, D-Chicago, called on administrators at the Illinois Department of Corrections to act.

“It is more critical now than ever for the center’s administrators to implement adequate fire safety infrastructure, create an effective fire evacuation plan and ensure emergency responses are handled with the timeliness they deserve,” said Peters. “People’s lives are on the line.”

The state opened the Joliet Treatment Center in 2017 to provide treatment to people in prison who have serious mental illnesses. It initially won praise for offering robust therapy and support. But conditions began declining, and men held there reported that they struggled to get physical and mental healthcare, and were left to spend long stretches locked in their cells. Desperate for help, they began setting their cells — or bodies — on fire.

Gov. JB Pritzker declined to comment on the investigation, instead pointing to a statement issued by the Department of Corrections.

The department had also refused to answer questions about fire preparedness at the Joliet Treatment Center, but a spokesperson wrote in a statement that the agency is “committed to ensuring the safety and security of staff, individuals in custody and all persons who enter our facilities.”

Illinois state Sen. Rachel Ventura, a Democrat who represents Joliet, where the prison is located, called the investigation's findings heartbreaking and demanded an audit of the department’s procedures and better training for its staff.

State Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, D-Chicago, said the problems at the Joliet Treatment Center are especially gut-wrenching given the facility's mission to provide services to people with mental health needs.

“Policymakers and residents want mental health care access for all Illinoisans, and this must include people with severe mental health conditions who are overrepresented in jails and prisons due to our policy failures,” said LaPointe.

Destinee Ortiz, a county board member in Will County where the prison is located, wrote Pritzker a public letter and asked what will be done to address the fatal fires. “A facility built to provide treatment and hope should not be the subject of findings like these,” she wrote.

In one case highlighted in the investigation, a man named Jason Stephens set a fire in his cell and then was left locked in it for a half-hour.

When firefighters reached Stephens and tried to take him to the hospital, the prison’s guards refused to open the gate for the ambulance for nearly 28 minutes. In prison reports, they said they were waiting on paperwork and a guard to accompany Stephens to the hospital.According to one guard, a firefighter said to prison employees, “This man can die while y’all pussyfooting around.”

Two weeks later, Stephens died of his injuries from the fire.

State Rep. Kevin Olickal, D-Chicago, said tragedies like Stephens’ death “highlight the urgent need for independent oversight” of the state’s prisons and said legislators have a duty to act.

The John Howard Association, a prison watchdog group, has been calling for such oversight of the department for years.

“These are public institutions, closed though they may be,” said the organization's executive director, Jenny Vollen-Katz, in a response to the investigation. “They should have all of the same safeguards that other public spaces have.”

Terah Tollner, a lawyer and representative for Stephens’ family, said she was horrified to learn of the many warning signs that the Department of Corrections had ignored, and called on the governor to take action.

“As the reporting makes clear, Jason Stephens did not have to die,” she said.

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