Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield. Photo by Elizabeth Hewitt/VTDigger
The case, filed on behalf of someone referred to only as “Patient A” in 2014, was resolved this week.
Under the agreement with the DOC, prisoners who are deemed to need a hospital level of psychiatric treatment for mental illness will get more time with clinicians and psychiatrists.
“I think the changes represent a pretty large step forward for the Department of Corrections,” AJ Ruben, a Disability Rights Vermont attorney who represented Patient A, said Tuesday.
AJ Ruben, attorney for Disability Rights Vermont, testifyies before the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules at the Statehouse in September 2013. File photo by Viola Gad/VTDigger
Patient A was first incarcerated at a prison in St. Johnsbury in August 2013 on parole violations, then, later that month, he was transferred to Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, according to the complaint.
He was designated “seriously functionally impaired,” a categorization used only in correctional facilities that includes a variety of conditions, including serious mental illness.
According to the court papers, Patient A had several diagnoses, including autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and others.
The complaint alleged that Patient A was held in segregation for seven months, where he spent about 22 hours a day in his cell, largely without contact with others. Though prison staff identified him as needing inpatient level of care in February 2014, he was held in the prison until April when he was transferred to the Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital in Berlin, according to court papers.
Disability Rights Vermont says that over a period of two months, Patient A did not receive adequate medical care and was held in segregation despite being identified as needing hospitalization for treatment.
The settlement agreement includes several DOC policy reforms:
• If a prisoner is determined to be in need of hospital-level psychiatric care, the DOC will reach out to the Department of Mental Health and will try to find a hospital bed for the inmate as soon as possible.
• Until the prisoner is transferred to a hospital, mental health clinicians in the prison will see that person twice a day to monitor their mental health. Disability Rights Vermont said that Patient A was seen just once a day by clinicians.
• Prisoners will also have at least one visit and evaluation per week with a psychiatrist or advanced nurse practitioner under the agreement. Patient A sometimes went weeks or months without such a visit, according to Disability Rights Vermont.
Patient A also received “substantial” financial compensation, according to the organization, but Ruben said that the plaintiff was adamant that any settlement must include changes to the system.
Ruben said he expects the settlement could have an impact on many of the prisoners held in Southern State’s mental health stabilization unit, called the “alpha unit,” which some advocates criticize.
The agreement sets out changes so people who have a need for inpatient level of treatment will be better identified and more quickly addressed by the system.
“I think that many of the people who are currently held in the alpha unit in Springfield will actually meet the criteria for needing an emergency evaluation,” Ruben said.
If the agreement is honored, Ruben said, “they’re treatment will be improved greatly.”
Corrections Commissioner Lisa Menard was supportive of the settlement in a statement Tuesday.
Lisa Menard, commissioner of the Department of Corrections. Photo by Elizabeth Hewitt/VTDigger
“We have a mutual desire to house these inmates in the least restrictive environment,” Menard said.
Menard said that the DOC will be able to provide the additional level of medical services spelled out in the agreement.
“We are in the process of implementing training that will increase our pool of qualified mental health professionals,” Menard said.
Ruben said that he still sees a need for significant reform in the way prisoners with mental health are treated in prisons.
“The end game is to stop the harsh, harmful and discriminatory treatment that prisoners with serious mental illness experience when they’re held in segregation in prisons,” Ruben said.
The settlement, Ruben said, moves the correctional system closer to that goal. “In the meantime, it’s going to drastically improve the level of care that prisoners get,” he said.
Menard said that she also is in favor of reducing the usage of segregation.
“I support the goal of eliminating segregation by ensuring these inmates are placed in the clinically indicated environment consistent with public, inmate and staff safety,” Menard said. “We continue to explore alternatives to achieve these goals.”
The post Settlement in prisoner’s lawsuit makes changes to mental health treatment appeared first on VTDigger.
