Washington State Department of Corrections A new report from the Office of Corrections Ombuds finds evidence of numerous shortcomings in the availability of mental health care in Washington prisons. The report says distressed prisoners often have to wait to see a mental health counselor and a lack of robust treatment options means some prisoners end up in solitary confinement.
A new report is sounding the alarm about the state of mental health care in Washington prisons. It finds numerous shortcomings that increase the risk of suicide and contribute to lengthy stays in solitary confinement. The Department of Corrections acknowledges ongoing challenges, but says it s been making improvements and plans to seek additional funds from the Legislature to increase mental health staffing.
Serious gaps in mental health care in Washington prisons, report warns klcc.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from klcc.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
State prison inmates say they re pressured to keep working in midst of coronavirus outbreak yakimaherald.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from yakimaherald.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Sick inmates at Airway Heights Corrections Center are calling conditions “obscene” and “decaying.” Some have described urine on the floor of a gym where 150 coronavirus-positive inmates are sharing four toilets.
As the prison faces the fastest and largest COVID-19 outbreak in Washington state prisons yet, minimum-security prisoners are still making food in the Washington State Correctional Industries factory for between 90 cents and $1.70 an hour.
Correctional Industries is a state-owned program with “private industry tools” that produces goods, including food, with prison labor to sell mainly to state agencies, according to its website.
Some inmates think that work is part of the reason the virus is spreading rapidly. As of Friday, 792 inmates, more than 40% of the prison’s current population, had tested positive. Twelve days prior, the prison had only seven cases.