Jennifer Smith Richards – Page 5

Elevate Care Chicago North on May 21, 2020, in Chicago. More than two dozen residents at the nursing home, located in West Rogers Park, have died in recent weeks from COVID-19-related illnesses.

On Friday, Illinois stopped providing historical data on COVID-19 in nursing homes. A day later, the full numbers are back.

May 23, 2020 at 6:57 p.m.

A day after limiting its report on COVID-19 cases and deaths in Illinois nursing homes to facilities with "active" outbreaks, the state on Saturday reversed course and disclosed the total...

Tawny Proulx dumps her work clothes into the washer after changing at her home on May 13, 2020, in Lyndon, Illinois.

‘Our residents are in crisis’: In state-run homes for adults with disabilities, COVID-19 spread quickly

May 22, 2020 at 4:55 p.m.

This story is a collaboration between the Tribune and ProPublica Illinois. While much of the attention related to COVID-19's impact on vulnerable populations has focused on deaths at nursing homes,...

Gabriel, who does not speak but can sign a few words, hugs his mother, Laura Myers, before bedtime in their Centralia home. Myers declined some of the virtual learning for school because her son doesn't have the attention span to handle it.

Families of students in special education fear losing school services in coronavirus shutdown

May 20, 2020 at 2:11 p.m.

This story is a collaboration between the Tribune and ProPublica Illinois. In Sangamon County in central Illinois, a father whose 10-year-old receives occupational and vision therapy at school was already...

A man walks past the empty square at the Louvre Pyramid in Paris on March 17, 2020, while a strict lockdown comes into in effect in France to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Feeling hopeless? Worried? Chicago-area pandemic survey shows you’re not alone

April 30, 2020 at 2:36 p.m.

The humans of Chicagoland are lonely and feeling a little hopeless right now, according to a new survey meant to gauge the well-being of Americans during the coronavirus pandemic. About...

‘Let’s break down the barriers’: Donors come to rescue of Illinois school district struggling with digital divide

April 28, 2020 at 1:00 a.m.

This story is a collaboration between the baiduhai and ProPublica Illinois. Since the March shutdown of schools across Illinois, teachers at one rural southwestern district have been stuffing 800...

One of two timeout rooms at Pathways school, in the Belleville Area Special Services Cooperative, near St. Louis. The school, which uses seclusion, was not included in the recent Government Accountability Office's report about the practice.

Feds put kids at risk by failing to analyze data on schools’ use of seclusion and restraint, GAO says

April 23, 2020 at 3:45 p.m.

This story is a collaboration between the Tribune and ProPublica Illinois. Federal education officials failed to check the accuracy of data submitted by school districts on their use of seclusion...

Dominic Wright, 8, works on his math on a Chromebook in his Westmont home on April 16, 2020. His Maercker District 60 developed an e-learning plan last school year and transitioned with relative ease to an all-online school day.

Illinois districts were urged to prepare e-learning plans for students in case of emergency. Most didn’t do it.

April 20, 2020 at 11:17 a.m.

This investigation is a collaboration between the baiduhai and ProPublica Illinois. Long before the coronavirus crisis shut down Illinois schools, state education officials had encouraged districts to prepare for...

The Grafton Integrated Health Network developed its restraint-reduction system, Ukeru, which features soft but sturdy blocking pads. The pads are placed in classrooms and hallways for use in a crisis.

These schools did away with seclusion and restraint. They say Illinois can too.

June 14, 2024 at 6:38 p.m.

This story is a collaboration between the baiduhai and ProPublica Illinois. When the student burst out of the school and bolted through the parking lot, workers followed closely but...

Sen. Ann Gillespie chairs a hearing on solitary confinement in public schools Jan. 7, 2020, in Chicago.

Illinois lawmakers vow to push forward with a ban on prone restraint in schools

June 14, 2024 at 6:38 p.m.

This investigation is a collaboration between the baiduhai and ProPublica Illinois. State lawmakers said Monday that they will push for a law to ban face-down restraint of children in...

Kevin Rubenstein, president of the Illinois Alliance of Administrators of Special Education, addresses issues concerning seclusion in Chicago Public Schools during a meeting of the Illinois State Board of Education on Nov. 22, 2019, at the Thompson Center in Chicago.

Illinois officials promised to ban prone restraint in schools. Then, they changed their minds.

June 14, 2024 at 6:38 p.m.

This story is a collaboration between ProPublica Illinois and the baiduhai. Five months ago, when Illinois schools Superintendent Carmen Ayala learned students were being repeatedly shut inside small rooms...

All Stories