Investigation looks at issues with ‘inpatient restoration’ in Illinois jails

When Khayla Evans was charged with aggravated battery and child endangerment in Lake County in the summer of 2022, she was found unfit for trial by a judge. She had an intellectual disability, and psychiatric issues beyond that, so the judge ordered her to be transferred to a state hospital. 

The idea was that Evans would receive what’s known as “inpatient restoration” — short term mental health care aimed at “restoring” someone’s ability to participate in legal proceedings.But that didn’t happen. The State Department of Human Services had no beds available for women. Evans was left waiting in the Lake County Jail. She often didn’t eat or drink, nor did she take her medications. Finally, after 67 days, she died, hundreds of miles from her home in Texas, still waiting for a bed to open up.

At least four people in Illinois including Evans, died in jails in the past few years while waiting for a state hospital bed to open. On top of that, many more defendants have needed inpatient restoration leading to longer waits for beds, often in jail. Meredith Newman is an investigative reporter with the Illinois Answers Project. She recently covered all of this for an in-depth piece and joins the program today. 

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Meredith Newman
Investigative reporter, Illinois Answers Project