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Memorandum of Support - S.2207

April 11, 2006

The Center for Policy and Advocacy urges the Senate to pass S.2207, an act to provide appropriate treatment and programming for inmates with severe mental illness who would otherwise be confined in disciplinary housing, to establish sufficient mental health programs for all inmates with mental illness, to require training of correctional staff to more effectively interact with inmates with mental illness and to provide oversight of prison mental health services by the New York State Commission on Quality Care for the Mentally Disabled.

Since 1991, the number of inmates with mental health treatment needs in New York State prisons has grown by 71%, three times the rate of increase of the overall inmate population. New York State’s prisons are ill-equipped to deal with mental illness. Under the current system, inmates who cannot conform to prison rules due to their mental condition are often placed in disciplinary confinement in order to maintain the safety and security of inmates and staff, even though this isolation frequently leads to their mental deterioration and eventual hospitalization. Approximately 20% of inmates in disciplinary confinement are living with a mental illness and spend 23 to 24 hours a day in a barren concrete cell experiencing sensory deprivation, social isolation and enforced idleness – conditions harmful to anyone’s mental health and devastating to people with psychiatric disabilities.

S.2207 will result in more humane treatment of prisoners with psychiatric disabilities; increase safety and job morale for correction officers, and save the state money. This bill will:

Make prisons safer for staff and inmates by creating mental health programs that provide appropriate housing and treatment of inmates with severe psychiatric disabilities.
Currently there are insufficient programs to meet the needs of inmates with mental illness who violate prison rules or exhibit inappropriate or aggressive behavior due to their mental condition. Providing treatment will reduce such behavior and increase safety for prisoners and correction officers. This has been demonstrated by the positive experiences of inmates participating in the current residential treatment units for inmates with mental illness confined in the prisons’ Intermediate Care Programs (ICPs), units operated by the Office of Mental Health in which participants receive intensive treatment and therapeutic interventions. ICP inmates are charged with fewer disciplinary infractions, are more compliant with their medications and report high satisfaction with services. Correction officers in these mental health units report high job morale and work collaboratively with mental health staff to provide care.

S.2207 requires the New York State Department of Correctional Services and the Office of Mental Health to create more residential mental health treatment programs to divert inmates with severe mental illness from disciplinary isolation to units in which they can receive appropriate mental health care, supervision, and treatment in a safe environment for prisoners and correctional and mental health staff.

Increase training for correction officers to enable them to safely and effectively interact with and identify inmates with mental illness.
The bill will make intervention possible before prisoners with psychiatric disabilities decompensate to the point that they become aggressive or disruptive. The state would be required to offer correction officers who are assigned to the residential mental health treatment programs 40 hours of specialized mental health training at the outset, and 12 hours of additional training every year thereafter. In addition, all correction officers will receive eight hours of mental health training annually designed by the New York State Office of Mental Health.

Increase oversight of the treatment of prisoners with psychiatric disabilities.
In order to ensure that inmates with mental illness are receiving appropriate care, the bill mandates that the New York State Commission on Quality Care for the Mentally Disabled create an oversight committee to monitor the treatment and confinement of all inmates with serious mental illness in each correctional facility. There is currently no oversight or monitoring of mental health care by any independent agency.

Reduce state costs.
Properly treating mental illness will lead to lower rates of recidivism, increase public safety and save money. Addressing the therapeutic needs of inmates with psychiatric disabilities will reduce the need for hospitalization during incarceration and after release, cutting medical costs. The current system frequently causes people with psychiatric disabilities to remain in prison until their maximum sentence expires because of their involvement in the disciplinary process. With proper treatment, many could avoid behavior leading to disciplinary actions and therefore serve less prison time, decreasing the cost of their incarceration. Treatment will reduce aggressive behavior, leading to fewer physical confrontations between correctional staff and inmates and generating additional savings from a reduction in staff injuries, staff absences, worker’s compensation claims and overtime.

In conclusion, S.2207/A.3926 represents a ‘win-win’ for New York State because it mandates that the state provide much needed mental health training for the correction officers and far more appropriate treatment alternatives for those inmates who suffer from severe mental illnesses.

Last week, the Assembly overwhelmingly passed same-as legislation, A.3926. We urge you to co-sponsor and to support S.2207, a critical measure.

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