Prison Progress

I applaud the December 5, 2003, article titled “Report Sounds Alarm on Plight of Mentally Ill Inmates” highlighting “the abysmal conditions” inmates face in the penal system. However, I would like to call attention to the fact that some states have indeed made efforts to provide appropriate mental health services in their correctional facilities. The maximum security prison for women in which I work has a mental health unit fully accredited by both the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and the American Correctional Association, and while we do not claim to provide treatment equal to what is available in the community, given the limitations relating to the institution’s security requirements, real and imagined, I am nevertheless pleased to report that we have a hard-working staff including five psychiatrists (one full time, four half time), four clinical psychologists, five social workers, and nine nurses.

Still, the deplorable conditions reported in the article are not likely to be corrected by state lawsuits, moving as they do with glacial speed and not always resulting in remedial steps. It will take enlightened action by Congress, as urged by APA, to bring needed psychiatric and other medical treatment services to this country’s prisons.

Editor’s Note: The next issue of Psychiatric News will report on a conference led by APA President Marcia Goin, M.D., on the increasing number of mentally ill inmates with little or no access to care.