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Aging as a member of the LGBTQ community

According to the latest report from AARP Illinois and SAGE, more than 60 percent of LGBTQ adults fear neglect, abuse or discrimination because of their identity when accessing long-term care. We spoke with older members of the LGBTQ community about where they’re finding support. This segment originally aired October 21, 2021. 

Christine Haley was named the State Homelessness Chief for the Illinois Department of Human Services in early November.

Christine Haley on homelessness in Illinois

An executive order from Gov. JB Pritzker's office created a task force and an advisory council to be shepherded by a new position in state government. Earlier this month, the administration announced the new state homelessness chief would be Christine Haley. She joined us on The 21st to talk about the position and housing issues in Illinois. This segment originally aired on November 24, 2021.

Hämeenlinna is home to Vanaja men's prison, one of Finland's open prisons that allow inmates to leave for work or school.
Natalie Moore / WBEZ

What can we learn from prisons in Finland?

Since 1970, the number of incarcerated people in the United States has grown exponentially and currently sits at around 2 million people. Meanwhile in Finland, that number is around 3,000, where one third of the country’s prisons operate as open. To talk about what that means and how the U.S. prison system might be reimagined, we were joined by a WBEZ reporter who dug into Finland's criminal justice system. 

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