JHA was pleased to partner with independent consultant Eric Melancon to present this comparative analysis of the budgets of six state departments of corrections in order to better understand prison system spending and track against outcomes and impact.  Providing more clarity on the billions of dollars spent on imprisoning people is an important way we can increase system transparency and hold government agencies accountable for the conditions in which they hold people, for the treatment which incarcerated people experience, and for the levels and types of support and programming provided.   

State budgets examined in this analysis include Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

JHA is grateful to Eric for sharing his time with Illinois stakeholders to discuss this important analysis and to the other independent oversight groups involved in this work.  JHA believes there are many reasons to care about our prison system and the people in it; for those who come to the issue through a financial lens, there is useful information here to gauge effectiveness, efficiency, and to better understand the many costs our system puts upon us and where improvements can be made.