David Jackson

David Jackson is an investigative reporter at Injustice Watch, where his work focuses on the courts. He earned a Pulitzer Prize at The Washington Post, and was a four-time Pulitzer finalist during his 29 years at the Chicago Tribune, from 1991 through 2020.

Staff members work the child abuse hotline operated by the Department of Children and Family Services in Springfield in July.

State’s child welfare agency scrambles to protect workers as it braces for spike in child abuse reports

March 30, 2020 at 6:22 p.m.

Illinois' child welfare agency is undertaking a rapid, extensive revamping of how it responds to abuse reports, both to safeguard frontline workers during the coronavirus outbreak and to prepare for...

An Illinois Department of Children and Family Services field office in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood is shown in 2019.

Pritzker names new DCFS watchdog; some child welfare advocates concerned

June 14, 2024 at 6:39 p.m.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has appointed Lester Bovia as interim inspector general of the Department of Children and Family Services, drawing skepticism from a key figure in child welfare in Cook...

A 16-year-old girl, far right, walks outside her home in Royal, Arkansas, with her 6-year-old brother and her father last fall. The girl was 11 when she was treated at Millcreek Behavioral Health.

Police logs, children, families paint troubled portrait of Millcreek ‘misery mill’

June 14, 2024 at 6:39 p.m.

This story is being co-published with ProPublica Illinois. Millcreek Behavioral Health in Fordyce, Arkansas, has become a common destination for foster children from other states who are sent away for...

An employee of Millcreek Behavioral Health walks last fall with two young residents on the facility's campus in Fordyce, Arkansas. Millcreek has emerged as a national hub for treating children with emotional and behavioral disorders.

Hurt instead of helped: Foster children victimized in out-of-state facilities where oversight is lacking

June 14, 2024 at 6:39 p.m.

This story is a collaboration between the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois. Across the country, child welfare officials have sent thousands of foster children to mental health institutions in distant...

People accused of felony crimes — shown facing away from the camera — meet with public defenders at the Cook County Jail before their initial appearances in bond court in December.

Bail reform analysis by Cook County chief judge based on flawed data, undercounts new murder charges

June 14, 2024 at 6:40 p.m.

Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans for months has defended the bail reform he ordered by citing an analysis produced by the office he runs. His report, released in May,...

Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans appears at a news conference in Chicago in 2017. He recently announced he was reversing a policy against providing full access to digital criminal court records.

Cook County chief judge withheld key court data; under Tribune pressure, he’s reversed that policy

June 14, 2024 at 6:40 p.m.

Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans for nearly two decades has had a policy of restricting the public's access to digital criminal court records: who comes before the courts, what...

Jesse Sharkey, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, speaks about the status of contract negotiations Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019 at CTU headquarters.

Chicago Teachers Union didn’t help investigation of student sexual violence, consultant says

June 14, 2024 at 6:44 p.m.

The Chicago Teachers Union failed to participate in a major study aimed at protecting students from sexual violence, according to the study and its authors. Consultant Maggie Hickey, a former...

Reeve Waud at the 100 Club of Chicago 50th anniversary gala at Four Seasons in Chicago on Sept. 22, 2016.

Stock sales brought Chicago investor $560 million — and unwanted scrutiny

June 14, 2024 at 6:39 p.m.

Co-founded by Chicago private equity investor Reeve Waud, Acadia Healthcare Co. has used billions of taxpayer dollars to serve some of America's most vulnerable citizens — foster children and opioid...

In this Aug. 7, 2015, file photo, Philip Esformes arrives at the 15th Annual Harold and Carole Pump Foundation Gala held at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, in Los Angeles. The Florida health care executive is facing sentencing following his conviction on 20 criminal charges in what prosecutors described as a $1 billion Medicare fraud scheme. A Miami federal judge Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019, is set to sentence 50-year-old Esformes in one of the biggest such cases in U.S. history.

Nursing home mogul Philip Esformes sentenced to 20 years for $1.3 billion Medicaid fraud

June 14, 2024 at 6:39 p.m.

Former Illinois and Florida nursing home mogul Philip Esformes wept and pleaded for mercy Thursday before being sentenced to 20 years in prison for what the U.S. Justice Department called...

Chicago Public Schools has agreed to federal oversight of its handling of sexual misconduct claims against staff and students.

‘Extraordinary and appalling’ handling of sexual violence cases in Chicago Public Schools leads to federal oversight

September 13, 2019 at 10:33 a.m.

In what federal officials called a historic enforcement action to protect students from sexual violence, Chicago Public Schools has entered into a legally binding agreement with the U.S. Department of...

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