* The full report is here. From AFSCME Council 31…

New AFSCME report underlines problems with plan to close Stateville, relocate Logan prison

Union supports rebuilding facilities on existing sites, no closures

A new report from the union representing employees of the Illinois Department of Corrections underlines the many problems with the agency’s proposals to close Stateville Correctional Center for reconstruction for three to five years starting as soon as September, and to close and relocate Logan Correctional Center from Lincoln to Crest Hill.

The executive summary of the report follows.

AFSCME Council 31 supports building a new women’s correctional facility, but strongly opposes the relocation of Logan Correctional Center.

Likewise, AFSCME supports building a new facility at Stateville Correctional Center, but strongly opposes closing the current facility before the new one is built and opened. (IDOC has implied the current facility could be closed as soon as September—a rushed timeline that should be slowed to ensure sound answers to the many questions raised here and elsewhere.)

The current IDOC proposal would threaten layoffs with disparate harm to employees of color, worsen staffing shortages, cause upheaval in the lives of correctional employees and individuals in custody, disrupt correctional operations and destabilize other facilities.

Specific to Stateville, although IDOC has cited its consultant CGL’s report as the rationale for the closure and reconstruction proposal, department COGFA filings omit major parts of that report which contradict its plan.

THREAT OF LAYOFFS & DISPARATE IMPACT
IDOC does not identify a sufficient number of vacant positions at nearby facilities for the nearly 500 Stateville CC employees whose jobs are threatened by closure. There are just 44 vacancies at the Joliet Treatment Center (10 miles away) and 24 vacancies at Sheridan CC (30 miles). IDOC fails to disclose how many if any vacancies are available at the Northern Reception & Classification (NRC) center on Stateville’s grounds.

Closing Stateville would disproportionately harm Black, Latino, and women workers. Region 1 where Stateville is located has:

• More employees of color than all other regions combined;
• 68 percent of the department’s Black employees;
• Its largest proportion of women (41 percent); and
• Its largest Latino workforce (11 percent).

Similarly, the two correctional facilities near Logan CC (Lincoln and Decatur CCs) have just 54 vacant positions between them. The next two closest (Jacksonville and Taylorville CCs) are 60 miles away and have just 25 vacancies combined. In total that’s fewer than 80 jobs available in nearby IDOC facilities for Logan CC’s 454 employees.

The economic impact study submitted to COGFA by IDOC indicates that closing and relocating Logan CC could result in the loss of $68.5 million in economic activity in local communities.

WORSEN STAFFING SHORTAGES
Logan CC now has just 66 percent of its authorized headcount and 85 percent of its budgeted headcount.

Closing and moving Logan CC will, over the three-to-five-year anticipated timeline, exacerbate this shortage as employees seek to transfer to other facilities or state agencies in order to remain employed in the local area.

Because of the lack of viable alternatives for Stateville employees, closure will likely result in the loss of experienced IDOC employees who retire or resign rather than face significant travel or relocation.

UPHEAVAL FOR INDIVIDUALS IN CUSTODY
Because 71% of Stateville CC’s 435 individuals in custody are from the seven-county Cook-and-collars region, relocation elsewhere in the state will undoubtedly lengthen the time and distance their families and others must travel to visit.

Meanwhile, just 40% of the 1,039 women housed at Logan CC are from the Cook-and-collars region. There is no evidence for IDOC’s claim that relocating them to a new facility in Will County would improve access to families and social supports.

Because the only other facility for women—Decatur CC—is a minimum-security facility inappropriate for Logan’s population, there would be no option for offenders from central and southern Illinois to remain near these supports.

Stateville CC operates a medical facility with an ER, triage center, dialysis, imaging, lab, in-patient and long-term beds, a dental clinic and specialists including mental health treatment, physical therapy, podiatry, optometry and more. Some 60 percent of the Stateville population is on “medical hold” and requires frequent care. IDOC’s filing to COGFA is silent on how the medical needs of individuals in custody will be met if Stateville is closed.

DISRUPT CORRECTIONAL OPERATIONS
IDOC data already indicates a steady rise in staff assaults and incidents among individuals in custody, and in disciplinary transfers for dangerous or disruptive behavior—especially at the maximum- and medium-security facilities likely to receive individuals from Stateville CC if it is closed. Receiving facilities will be unable to ensure safety for their staff and current population.

Closing Stateville during reconstruction and relocating Logan CC to Will County will increase the amount of time spent transporting individuals in custody to court writs.

It will end or require the rebuilding from scratch of Stateville’s and Logan’s robust academic, career & technical education, industries, volunteer services, and treatment programs.

Closing Stateville for up to five years will eliminate its ancillary services such as administrative and security operations, visitor facilities, mail processing, its law library for individuals in custody, and other services that the NRC and the minimum-security unit on its grounds depend on (importantly, including the medical services described above).

OMISSIONS FROM IDOC FILINGS
IDOC does not accurately reflect that its consultant CGL rated much of Stateville as functional, including Cell House B, the administrative building, law library/school, vocational school and dining complex.
Further, IDOC neglects to point out that CGL found that “Stateville has significant space within its secure perimeter to accommodate new structures” and “there are several vacated buildings within the perimeter that could be demolished to provide additional options.”

The department does not mention that recent investments have addressed roofing repairs and other deferred maintenance projects recently completed or already underway, including to the commissary roof, dining complex, main gate, gym, south sallyport, electrical work, asbestos remediation, an extensive project to replace water heaters and the installation of a new fire alarm system.

While IDOC’s COGFA filing does cite a report from another consultant, HTA, it omits that the HTA report concludes that all areas of immediate concern could be repaired for just $12 million.

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