Pennsylvania prison inmates diagnosed with serious mental illness will be diverted to special treatment units instead of being punished by placement in isolated cells, under the terms of a settlement between the Corrections Department and advocates for the disabled that was released Tuesday.
The settlement with the Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania, which sued the state in federal court in March 2013, affects hundreds of inmates out of the nearly 51,000 in the state prison system.
The advocates said the agreement will end what they had described “a Dickensian nightmare” in which mentally ill inmates were trapped in “an endless cycle of isolation and punishment” that kept them in prison longer than most inmates.
Robert Meek, the network’s lead attorney in the case, said the agreement would improve the screening process used to identify prisoners with serious mental illness, sharply reduce the likelihood that that those inmates would end up in solitary confinement and provide programming that keeps them on track for parole.
A monitor will be appointed to oversee the state’s compliance with the agreement, which calls for a wide-ranging overhaul of the department’s policies on dealing with mentally ill prisoners. The agreement will remain in force for two to five years, depending on the state’s performance.
“This settlement has teeth,” Meek said.
Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said the agreement reflects both sides’ mutual goal of delivering safe and appropriate mental health services, but he said more and better community mental health centers and special courts are needed to deal with the larger issues.
“Unfortunately, prisons and jails have become the de facto system responsible for treating the mentally ill,” Wetzel said.