A federal judge found California prison leaders didn’t hire enough mental health professionals to treat inmates. The court ordered a contempt fine of nearly $112 million. It’s a case that’s been in the courts for decades.The San Francisco lawyer representing inmates said it’s not an order to celebrate.”A victory would have been if they fixed the reform in California state prisons years ago the way they should have,” said Ernest Galvan. The huge fine comes from the amount of money the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has saved by not filling mental health staff positions. The judge is ordering the state to put that money in a special account reserved for inmate help.Court documents show the population of inmates with serious mental health issues has doubled since they’ve been asking for more resources, while staffing needs have gotten worse.Right now, 30% of positions from psychiatrists to social workers need to be filled, and the jobs have been open for years. “My clients, many of them with severe mental illness in crisis cutting themselves, attempting to hang themselves, wait for weeks and weeks and months before seeing a clinician,” Galvan said. In a statement to KCRA 3 News, a CDCR spokesperson said, “Incarcerated individuals within CDCR often have greater access to mental health care in custody than what presently exists for people outside CDCR institutions due to the actions CDCR has taken over the last few decades to improve health outcomes.CDCR has taken extraordinary steps to expand access to mental health care through the use of telepsychiatry and telemental health. And to face the challenge of a nationwide staffing shortage, CDCR has invested in recruitment efforts, streamlined the hiring process, continued use of registry staff to alleviate staffing vacancies, and increased salaries and benefits to retain and attract more mental healthcare providers.CDCR will continue to make progress in making communities safer inside and outside its institutions.”Galvan said everyone should be able to get the mental health care help they need, regardless if they’re a criminal or not, and if inmates aren’t treated properly, they will most likely bring those issues back home once they’ve served their sentence. “Those people are coming back to the same communities, and if we don’t provide some minimal support for them while being punished in prison, then it just intensifies the community needs when they go back,” he said.The CDCR is appealing the contempt order.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app.
A federal judge found California prison leaders didn’t hire enough mental health professionals to treat inmates. The court ordered a contempt fine of nearly $112 million.
It’s a case that’s been in the courts for decades.
The San Francisco lawyer representing inmates said it’s not an order to celebrate.
“A victory would have been if they fixed the reform in California state prisons years ago the way they should have,” said Ernest Galvan.
The huge fine comes from the amount of money the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has saved by not filling mental health staff positions.
The judge is ordering the state to put that money in a special account reserved for inmate help.
Court documents show the population of inmates with serious mental health issues has doubled since they’ve been asking for more resources, while staffing needs have gotten worse.
Right now, 30% of positions from psychiatrists to social workers need to be filled, and the jobs have been open for years.
“My clients, many of them with severe mental illness in crisis cutting themselves, attempting to hang themselves, wait for weeks and weeks and months before seeing a clinician,” Galvan said.
In a statement to KCRA 3 News, a CDCR spokesperson said, “Incarcerated individuals within CDCR often have greater access to mental health care in custody than what presently exists for people outside CDCR institutions due to the actions CDCR has taken over the last few decades to improve health outcomes.
CDCR has taken extraordinary steps to expand access to mental health care through the use of telepsychiatry and telemental health. And to face the challenge of a nationwide staffing shortage, CDCR has invested in recruitment efforts, streamlined the hiring process, continued use of registry staff to alleviate staffing vacancies, and increased salaries and benefits to retain and attract more mental healthcare providers.
CDCR will continue to make progress in making communities safer inside and outside its institutions.”
Galvan said everyone should be able to get the mental health care help they need, regardless if they’re a criminal or not, and if inmates aren’t treated properly, they will most likely bring those issues back home once they’ve served their sentence.
“Those people are coming back to the same communities, and if we don’t provide some minimal support for them while being punished in prison, then it just intensifies the community needs when they go back,” he said.
The CDCR is appealing the contempt order.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app.