Correctional News: How Chicago Beyond is inspiring change by helping correctional systems to center safety and address trauma

Our Managing Director of Justice Initiatives Dr. Nneka Jones Tapia was interviewed by Correctional News for  their January/February 2025 publication

Chicago Beyond — a national philanthropic organization that aims to drive equitable change in the justice community (and beyond) — approaches its work with the understanding that meaningful and lasting solutions to significant challenges only arise when the people who are closest to the issue are part of the conversation. Nneka Jones Tapia, Psy.D., managing director of justice initiatives for Chicago Beyond and new Editorial Advisory Board member for Correctional News, learned this lesson during her time as warden of
Chicago’s Cook County Jail. Tapia is a clinical psychologist who for 20 years has studied the emotional and mental impact that time spent in jails and prisons has on inmates and correctional staff members.

She has worked in corrections for more than 11 years and was one of the first clinical psychologists in the country to head a large jail, a role she held while the jail was under a federal consent decree. Under her leadership, the jail successfully met the consent decree terms and, for the first time in 40 years, was no longer being monitored by the Department of Justice. Tapia’s experience as warden offered many lessons and insights, but most importantly highlighted the acute and pervasive effects of trauma across the spectrum of correctional involvement.

“Trauma is the root cause of issues that are associated with jails and prisons,” Tapia said. “It impacts everyone who comes into contact with these facilities: the people incarcerated within them, the staff who work inside of them, the administrators who lead them, the families of people who are incarcerated, the families of facility staff, and the larger community because of the number of people who directly interface with jails and prison. What happens in a jail or prison doesn’t stay there.”

Read the full article here