REDEFINING
THE
NARRATIVE
REDEFINING
THE
NARRATIVE
False narratives do more than fuel the mass incarceration of women.
They hide the real problems that create it.
They shape policies and systems, compounding the damage.
And they cost real money—in Illinois, $1.4 billion in the last decade alone.
In July 2018, the nation’s first entirely women-led Task Force was launched to build a strategy to end mass incarceration of women and confront the false narratives that fuel it.
Elevated by the leadership of directly impacted women, the Task Force engaged over 500 women – family members, advocates, social service providers, judges, prosecutors, corrections officials, policymakers, academics, health professionals and more – on solutions.
The Statewide Women’s Justice Task Force of Illinois set three goals:
- Cut the women’s prison population by 50%+ and beyond
- Reduce the harms caused by current policies and practices
- Improve health, well-being and outcomes among women, their children, families and communities
The result is an actionable report. It lays the groundwork to move from redefining the narrative on women’s justice to reclaiming it.
WOMEN’S JUSTICE PATHWAYS
We can do something about this. We can start by telling the truth: Justice for women isn’t only what happens between arrest and prison. It’s what happens before, during, and after it.
Real justice for women begins with addressing their 5 fundamental rights and needs. Do this, and we open the pathways to justice. Fail, and we carve pathways to prison and systems entrenchment.
Relationship Safety
Health & Well-being
Safe & Stable Housing
Economic Security & Empowerment
Supported Families
5 RIGHTS
AND NEEDS
Key Justice System Drivers of Women’s Mass INCARCERATION
The true roots of mass incarceration among women run far deeper than justice system policy and practice.
Ending it will require addressing longstanding social, political and economic injustices and oppressions.
Justice system policies and practices are not only a consequence of these injustices, but also serve to perpetuate them. Understanding the specific ways they have fueled women’s mass incarceration is essential to ending it.
These are the 4 leading criminal justice system trends that have spurred the rise in women’s mass incarceration in Illinois:
Shifting from Crisis to Opportunity
After skyrocketing by 776%, the Illinois women’s prison population has recently begun to decline. Bi-partisan reforms accelerated by crisis-driven responses to COVID-19 are paving the way for a once in a generation opportunity to permanently rollback decades of women’s mass incarceration.
There have been a total of 67,978 court admissions to Illinois women’s prisons. 86.3% were for nonviolent crimes; and a chronic lack of data obscures the impact of GBV, related coercion and accountability on those convicted of violent offenses (1989–2019).
Illinois Women’s Prison Population Trending (FY75-FY20)
Source: Chart created by the Women’s Justice Institute (WJI) with data provided by the Illinois Department of Corrections Planning and Research Unit.
Driver
Criminalization of drug use among women, instead of treatment
Prison instead of public health: Women suffering from addiction have been getting sent to prison, rather than treatment.
High Rates of Women Continually Sent to Prison for Drug Possession Instead of Treatment
From 1989 to 2019, drugs accounted for 37% (25,266) of all admissions to women’s prisons, of which 50% were for Class 4 drug possession.
Women’s Court Admissions to IDOC for Drug-Law Violations by Offense Type (1989–2019)
Source: Analyses by Loyola’s Center for Criminal Justice Research, Policy & Practice of data provided by the Illinois Department of Corrections’ Planning and Research Unit.
Driver
Increased Use of Prison Sentencing for low-level offenses among women
Women’s mass incarceration first began skyrocketing when courts started increasingly sentencing women to prison for low-level felonies, particular for Class 3 and 4 drug and property offenses.
Majority of Women’s Prison Admisions have been Driven by Low -Level Class 3 and 4 Felonies
From 1989-2019, 77% of women’s prison admissions were for low-level Class 3 and 4 felonies. 23.7% of all admissions were for Class 4 and 43.3% were for Class 3 felonies.
Proportion of Women’s Court Admissions to IDOC Accounted for by Offense Type (1989–2019)
Source: Analyses by Loyola’s Center for Criminal Justice Research, Policy & Practice of data provided by the Illinois Department of Corrections’ Planning and Research Unit.
Driver
Increased prison length of stay due to more punitive policies and less programming” for women
Increasingly punitive sentencing policies, disproportionate prison discipline for women and lack of access to prison program sentence credits is keeping women in prison longer than ever.
Keeping Women in Prison Longer has kept the Women’s Prison Population high, Even as Admissions have Declined
Even women with the lowest-level Class 4 felonies are staying in prison 100% longer due to increasingly punitive policies, disproportionate discipline and limited access to prison program sentence credits.
Total Women’s IDOC Admissions, Exits, and End of the Year Population (1989–2019)
Source: Analyses by Loyola’s Center for Criminal Justice Research, Policy & Practice of data provided by the Illinois Department of Corrections’ Planning and Research Unit.
Prison Length of Stay Has Increased Among Women for Every Type of Conviction
Percentage Increases in Women's Length of Stay
in Prison by Offense Class (FY 2006–FY 2009)
Source: Analyses by the Women’s Justice Institute of data retrieved from Illinois Department of Corrections online reports.
Women Receive Nearly 3x More Disciplinary Tickets for Minor Infractions than Men In Prison:
Results in reduced programming opportunities & Keeps Women in Prison Longer
IDOC Total Average Disciplinary Tickets among Men and Women (CY18)
Source: Analyses by the Women’s Justice Institute (WJI) of data provided by the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Declining Access to Program Sentence Credit Programs (PSC) for Incarcerated Women:
Results in Increased Prison Time, Missed Opportunities to Reduce Recidivism & Higher Taxpayer Costs
Access to Program Sentence Credits (PSC) fell from 45% to 24% of all women released from prison (2011 vs 2018)
Source: Analyses by Loyola’s Center for Criminal Justice Research, Policy & Practice of data provided by the Illinois Department of Corrections’ Planning and Research Unit.
Recidivism
Increasing Impact of Technical Violations
Parole practices that result in reincarcerating women for technical violations, which often don’t involve new convictions, have had an increasing impact on the overall women’s prison population. Even despite declines in the three-year recidivism rate among women, the practice of reincarcerating women for technical violations stubbornly continued to trend upward. The percentage of women in prison for technical violations rose from only 6% in FY1989 to 17% by FY2019.
Parole Technical Violations Among Women Have Trended Upward & Represent an Increasing Proportion of Women’s Prison Admissions
In 2019, 344 women were reincarcerated for parole technical violations, which often do not involve a new conviction. The proportion of total women’s prison admissions represented by parole violations steadily rose from 6% to 17% between 1989 and 2019.
Percentage of Total Women’s Prison Admissions for Parole Technical Violations
Source: Analyses by Loyola’s Center for Criminal Justice Research, Policy & Practice of data provided by the Illinois Department of Corrections’ Planning and Research Unit.
Recidivism
Regional Trending
Must Not be Overlooked
Recent declines in the statewide women’s prison population have been primarily driven by reduced admissions from larger counties, such as Cook County — obscuring concerning increases in nearly half of the state’s counties, particularly in rural areas.
A Decline in Women’s Prison Admissions from Cook County is Obscuring Dramatic Increases of 98% Among Nearly Half of Counties Statewide, Particularly in Rural areas
Characteristics of Prison Population Changing: Admissions by County
Urban Areas
Non-Urban Areas
There has been an average 98% increase in women’s prison admissions among 43 of the state’s 102 counties (2010-2019.) Most increases were in Central and Southern Illinois and the result of drug offenses, many of which are believed to be linked to the meth epidemic.
Source: Analyses by Loyola’s Center of Research, Policy an Practice of data provided by the Illinois Department of Corrections’ Planning and Research Unit
Cutting women’s prison population 50%+ and beyond
When the Task Force launched in 2018, the women’s prison population stood at 2,349 – over six times higher than it was in 1980.
We can and must end mass incarceration among women. This can start immediately with an actionable plan to cut the number of women in prisons by 50%+.
Recent legislation and temporary, crisis-driven responses to the pandemic in 2020 have resulted in promising declines that represent a once in a generation opportunity to permanently rollback decades of skyrocketing mass incarceration rates among women.
The $1.4 Billion Proposition
We have spent over $1.4 billion in the last decade on a failed system that harms women, children, families and communities. Despite this, it keeps costing taxpayers more every year.
$1.4 billion estimated IDOC women’s prison/parole costs (2010-2020)
Source: IL Sentencing Policy Advisory Council (SPAC) 2019 Dynamic Marginal Costs of Incarceration estimates gender neutral costs of IDOC prison and parole prison operations, including staff benefits. This may be low, as per capita prison costs for women are higher.
$700 million in estimated state economic losses related to the deadweight cost of taxation alone, which reflects losses associated with each tax dollar invested in the criminal justice system from 2010-2020.
Source: Based on SPAC 2015 High Costs of Recidivism study which is estimated the dollar of welfare lost to incarceration per tax dollar. Gross losses to overall economy are higher.
$24.9 million requested by IDOC in FY2021 to repair crumbling facilities at Logan in addition to its $60 million operating budget
Source: IL Sentencing Policy Advisory Council (SPAC) 2019 Dynamic Marginal Costs of Incarceration estimates gender neutral costs of IDOC prison and parole prison operations, including staff benefits. This may be low, as per capita prison costs for women are higher.
Spending increased at least 16.8% to operate women’s prisons, even as the population declined 18% between FY14-FY19.
Estimated increase is low as it does not account for increased staff salaries, benefits or capital costs.
Source: IDOC Annual Reports
Invest in Women
We have a choice. We can spent another $1.4B in the next decade on a failed system or chart a new course by dismantling antiquated systems and reinvesting in women, children, families and communities.
We have a choice:
Invest in a failing system
Invest in women’s rights & needs
RELATIONSHIP SAFETY
Criminalize women for their survival or invest in communities where they can safely thrive.
Over 90% of women in prison are survivors of gender-based violence and other forms of abuse. We can invest in interventions that prevent violence against women and ensure women’s safety, or continue to punish women for surviving the conditions of their lives.
HEALTH & WELL-BEING
Incarcerate women suffering from addiction and trauma or invest in treatment and healing.
75% of women in prison are dealing with post-traumatic stress and trauma, and struggling with related substance use and mental health issues. We can invest in cost-effective, non-carceral community-based supports or pour our resources into a system that is compromising women’s health, eroding well-being and causing additional trauma.
SAFE & STABLE HOUSING
Fund deteriorating prisons or invest in dignified housing for women.
Almost 40% of justice-involved women reported being unable to pay rent and were forced to move in with family or friends in the year before prison. We can continue paying another $48,000 per year to “house” them in prisons that cause them further harm, or we can invest in safe, stable and affordable housing options.
ECONOMIC SECURITY
& EMPOWERMENT
Punish and perpetuate economic insecurity among women or invest in equitable economic opportunity.
In the last decade of women’s incarceration, we lost over $700 million in economic opportunity. We can continue to criminalize women’s poverty and force them through systems that create barriers to their education and economic advancement, or invest in their communities and economic opportunities.
SUPPORTED FAMILIES
Separate families or invest in supporting them through well- resourced communities.
80% of women in prison are mothers, and the majority of them are the custodial parent of young children. We can invest in alternatives that keep families together or create intergenerational family trauma by separating children from their mothers and creating barriers to family healing and reunification.
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Attn: Office of the WJI
Safer Foundation
571 West Jackson Blvd
Chicago, IL 60661
