In his annual report released yesterday, Correctional Investigator Howard Sapers said the number of inmates with “significant, identified mental health needs” has doubled over the past decade, but treatment services have declined. “The level of mental health services is now seriously deficient.”...Sending money to offer services to prisoners is seldom the politically popular thing to do, and I can hear the reactionaries now complaining about prisoners having better access to psychological treatment than the general public. But in this case it should be obvious that there are substantial public-safety benefits to offering the service, as untreated illnesses may themselves lead to future criminal behaviour. And one has to question how the government can send a message about the importance of following the law when the lack of funding means that court-ordered treatment isn't available.
In all, about 12 per cent of federal inmates are seriously mentally ill, Mr. Sapers said, while the system is able to deal with only half of them.
Leaving mentally ill patients untreated violates their legal and moral right to health care, he said: “It's also a real public-safety imperative and it's also a very cost-effective way of approaching the problem.”
The plan to deal with all types of inmates is in place through Correctional Service Canada; the only need now is for funding. If PMPM wants to make sure that some real progress is made during the current Parliament, providing that funding would be a good place to start.
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