Negligent SC prison system agrees to reforms for the mentally ill
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COLUMBIA, SC An estimated 3,500 mentally ill inmates in the S.C. Department of Corrections could see sharply upgraded treatment as the result of a tentative agreement reached after 11 years of contentious litigation and negotiations.
The agreement in the long-running class action lawsuit is between the South Carolina-based Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities Inc. and the Department of Corrections, according to a joint news release Wednesday from both parties.
The settlement commits the state to spend about $1.7 million in one-time money for facilities upgrades at the department’s mental health units, with another $7 million annually to add some 70 workers. The $7 million increase, which also includes increased staff training, will be phased in over three years and includes some pay increases for underpaid current employees. The money for the second year’s staffing and training upgrades was in the budget passed by the state Legislature on Wednesday.
Major features of the proposed settlement, which still must be approved by a judge, include:
▪ An independent process to monitor implementation of the plan, which includes increased training for corrections staff who deal with inmates with serious mental illnesses.
▪ Develop a screening and evaluation program to identify inmates in need of mental health care.
▪ Develop a program that ends isolating inmates who are going through mental health crises and adopts national standards in dealing with mentally troubled inmates.
▪ Institute proper medication protocols for mentally ill prisoners and keep accurate records
▪ Begin a program to identify, treat and supervise inmates who might be suicidal.
“This is, possibly, an historic day for justice, one we have been seeking for a decade,” Gloria Prevost, executive director of Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities Inc., said in a prepared statement.
“For years we met with stone cold resistance to anything resembling fairness and justice. It was only after Governor Haley appointed Bryan Stirling SCDC director that progress was made. Our many discussions convinced us that the new leadership genuinely desired to do the right thing.”
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