Dear Colleagues,

After much reflection, I have made the decision to retire later this year as the Correctional Investigator of Canada. This marks the end of an immensely rewarding chapter in my professional life, including my time as Chair of the ICPA’s Network on External Prison Oversight and Human Rights.

As you know, this Network was established in 2018 with the goal of fostering collaboration and advancing oversight practices across jurisdictions. Ensuring the continuity and future growth of this network has been a central consideration in my retirement planning.

Since our founding, we’ve achieved a great deal together. We’ve published 11 comprehensive newsletters exploring a broad spectrum of topics, from solitary confinement and the cornerstones of effective prison oversight, to adapting oversight practices in the face of global pandemics, responding to the needs of women, juveniles, and culturally diverse groups, and translating international standards into local realities.

We’ve grown the network to over 100 active members, with another 100 subscribers to our distribution list, representing 45 countries across every continent. We’ve convened eight panels at ICPA annual conferences since 2018, giving voice to oversight practitioners, civil society actors, and experts in correctional accountability from around the world.

Most importantly, I believe our greatest contribution has been bringing oversight and monitoring bodies into closer dialogue—building relationships, sharing lessons, and strengthening our common mission to increase transparency and accountability within carceral systems globally.

With these accomplishments in mind, I am pleased to announce the next chapter in our Network’s leadership. After careful consideration, it became clear to me that the most natural and capable successor to lead the Network is the team at the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab (PJIL) at the University of Texas at Austin—Michele Deitch and Alycia Welch. PJIL is a national policy resource center focused on the safe and humane treatment of people in custody and on efforts to strengthen prison oversight. PJIL’s signature project is the National Resource Center for Correctional Oversight (www.prisonoversight.org), an online clearinghouse for all things oversight-related in the United States. Many of you will know Michele and Alycia from their presentations at several ICPA conferences, their publications in Network newsletters, and their participation in Network meetings.

Michele will serve as Chair of the Network and Alycia will be the Vice-Chair. I am also delighted to share that Kate Eves, OBE, will be joining Michele and Alycia in a leadership role, as Special Advisor, helping to ensure the continued success and future impact of the Network.

You will recognize the exceptional qualifications of all three members of this leadership team:

Michele Deitch

Michele brings over 38 years of experience in criminal and juvenile justice policy. She is a Distinguished Senior Lecturer at the University of Texas, with a joint appointment at both the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and the University of Texas School of Law, and she also serves as Director of the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab (PJIL) at the LBJ School. Her areas of expertise include independent oversight of correctional institutions, prison and jail safety issues, and youth in custody. Michele’s career spans service as a federal court-appointed monitor of conditions in the Texas prison system, General Counsel to the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee, policy director for Texas’s sentencing commission, consultant to justice system agencies across the United States, and draftsperson for the American Bar Association’s Standards for the Treatment of Prisoners. A Soros Senior Justice Fellow, she was honored with the 2019 Flame Award from the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE) for her significant contributions to corrections oversight. Michele is an attorney, and she holds degrees from Amherst College (B.A.), Oxford University (M.Sc.), and Harvard Law School (J.D.).

Alycia Welch

Alycia Welch is the Associate Director of the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab (PJIL) at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, where her scholarship focuses on the safe and humane treatment of people in custody and where she regularly advises policymakers and agencies on prison and jail conditions and effective oversight. As adjunct faculty, she also co-instructs graduate-level policy research courses on prison reform. Previously, Alycia directed a transitional housing program for women exiting prison or jail, developed an alternative to incarceration program for young adults, oversaw a multistate initiative providing training and technical assistance on behavioral health and criminal justice issues, and as an analyst in the Texas legislature, helped establish changes to the criminal legal and behavioral health systems.  The recipient of several policy research awards, Alycia has authored numerous reports on these issues that have received national recognition and been featured in major media outlets. Alycia holds dual master’s degrees in Public Affairs (LBJ School) and Social Work (Steve Hicks School) from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.A. from the University of Michigan.

Kate Eves

Kate brings an impressive international record of oversight experience. She was the head of suicide and homicide investigations for the British Prisons Ombudsman, worked for HM Prison Inspectorate for England and Wales, and chaired the Brooks House Inquiry into abuse at an immigration detention centre in England. She has also held senior manager positions in HM Prison Service of England and Wales. Kate has also worked in a contract capacity with oversight organizations in the U.S., including the NYC Board of Correction and the John Howard Association, as well as with the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab (PJIL). Kate is an independent expert advisor to the government of England and Wales on preventing deaths in all forms of state custody. She holds a master’s degree in criminology from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Kate received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2024 in recognition of her public service in this field.

Together, Michele, Alycia, and Kate are exceptionally well-positioned to build on our foundation and take the Network to new heights. With PJIL’s existing oversight network in the United States and internationally, along with their strong organizational capacity, this leadership team is well equipped to broaden our reach. This transition will help amplify American oversight efforts while reinforcing the ICPA’s global impact in this crucial area of work.

The upcoming ICPA conference in Istanbul will mark my final appearance as the Correctional Investigator of Canada. I will formally announce both my retirement and this leadership transition during the Network meeting at the conference.

If you have any questions or concerns about this transition, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Otherwise, I’m pleased to share that this transition has the full support of the ICPA Executive Committee, and work is already underway to ensure a seamless handover.

Thank you for your trust, your passion, and your commitment to this work. It has been an honour to serve as your Chair.



Warm regards,

Ivan Zinger

Chair, External Prison Oversight and Human Rights Network

International Corrections and Prisons Association

Newsletter 12: Elderly, Aging, and Dying in Prison

Our upcoming newsletter will focus on the challenges of aging behind bars and the ways that corrections agencies and oversight bodies are responding to these challenges. 

Submissions should not exceed 5 pages or 2500 words, including pictures, tables, and graphs; should be written in an easily accessible and readable style (think more magazine rather than academic journal); and should preferably use hyperlinks in lieu of citations. Remember you are writing for an international audience with diverse backgrounds, so be sure to explain unfamiliar concepts and avoid acronyms and jargon. Please ensure all submissions are reviewed for accuracy and that you have any needed permissions to publish the information or photos in your article. 

If you or your organization are interested in contributing an article or require any further information, please contact the PJIL team at: PJIL.ICPAoversightnetwork@gmail.com.

Submission Deadline: September 21, 2025

Publication Date: October/November 2025

Click the link below for more information: 

ICPA Annual Conference 2025

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