Too many juveniles are ending up in prisons that are isolating them, failing to meet their mental health needs, absent plans to return successfully to the community, costing too much, and just plain inappropriate says a new report,one of many citing failures in New York State programs that are hurting people with a mental illness.
The Vera Institute task force found:
too many juveniles [ages 7 to 15] are ending up in prisons that are isolating them, failing to meet their mental health needs, absent plans to return successfully to the community, costing too much, and just plain inappropriate. "More than 1,600 youth enter New York State's institutional placement facilities each year, at an estimated annualized cost of $210,000 per child. Yet many of these youth leave more angry, fearful, or violent than when they entered."
The report outlines an overall failure yet credits efforts of some agencies such as the Office of Children and Family Services.Twenty recommendations include measures to create accountability, address the racial disparities, and begin discharge planning early to engage relevant parties to keep more kids at home. The story was widely reported in New York media, including the New York TImes and a podcast from WNYC.
County jails
A federal investigation of New York's Westchester County Jail (WCJ) found "serious harm" to mentally ill inmates. "A jail's obligation to provide adequate medical care includes a duty to provide adequate mental health care," said a 42-page document from Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice based on 2008 visits and a review of inmate medical records.
Notable violations of the WCJ included an excessive reliance on the special housing unit (SHU):
"WCJ's Special Housing Unit ("SHU") is the disciplinary segregation unit for
male inmates. Inmates housed in the SHU are isolated in individual cells with
self-contained toileting and showering facilities. Because the cells are
self-contained, the inmate is rarely brought out of his cell. Each inmate has access
to a recreation area and is permitted one hour of recreation time, to be served alone.
Our consultant found that while inmates housed in confinement areas received
previously arranged or established mental health treatment, most inmates do not
receive routine mental health evaluations.
Inmates confined in isolation or segregation have an increased risk of mental
health deterioration. Generally accepted correctional practices suggest that regular
psychological assessments by a qualified mental health professional are necessary
to ensure the mental health of an inmate confined in such units beyond 30 days.29
Many of the inmates are confined in the SHU for well over 30 days. Accordingly,
qualified mental health professionals should make segregation rounds at least once
a week to identify those inmates at risk of experiencing psychological deterioration.
Although WCJ medical staff conducts and documents daily rounds in the SHU, this
does not constitute an appropriate mental health assessment."
Special case of juveniles
The investigation found the Westchester County Jail did not have a process for identifying "special mental health needs for its juvenile population" or "any special accommodation or therapeutic approach."
The DOJ criticized the severity and length of disciplinary actions such as a "one-year term of isolation/seclusion for a minor," saying this "is an extremely severe sanction." Other worrisome findings address a 16-year old who was sent to the SHU for nearly two years; an 18-year old given an "indefinite" sentence of isolation. The report noted irregular practices, including the failure to obtain parental approval before commonly administering psychotropic drugs.:
the Jail's failure to adequately separate juveniles from adult inmates by sight and sound, in contradiction to generally accepted correctional standards, and the Jail's failure to seek parental consent for the administration of psychotropic medication."
Rockland Psychiatric Center
Two investigations of Rockland Psychiatric Center found significant lapses in patient care that it threatens withdrawal of federal funding. The reports, 18 months apart, were based on several visits as late as October found "immediate jeopardy of harm, according to the Journal News.Instances of neglecting patient care, finding staff sleeping on the job, paying excessive overtime were among the conditions.
New York State Sen. Thomas Moran told the Journal News.he was concerned "with the frequency that RPC has been the subject of professional criticism regarding the quality and caliber of patient care." The state's response to the is due today.
