JHS: CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS HAVE BECOME WAREHOUSES FOR THE MENTALLY ILL.
Perrin Valli, Guelph Criminal Defence Lawyer, often represents people suffering with mental health and addiction issues. If your friend or loved one has been charged by the Guelph police or the Wellington County OPP and is suffering from mental health or addiction issues, Perrin Valli can help.
A new website created by the John Howard Society (the “JHS”) seeks to change the way that we deal with addiction and mental health issues in the justice system.
The Status Quo
Many in Ontario mistakenly believe that people with addictions or mental health issues receive treatment while in jail.
Presently, at least in the vast majority of cases, this is simply not true. Treatment is sometimes made available to persons serving sentences in custody, but usually, only for jail sentences longer than 5-7 months. For example, the Ontario Correctional Institute in Brampton (“OCI”) runs addiction and mental health treatment programs, for those sentenced for more than 5 months, but those programs have very limited space. Also, many people with mental and/or addictions are found guilty of only minor or non-violent offences which do not attract jail sentences in this range or are only found guilty and sentenced (whether after a guilty plea or a trial) after having already served their sentence and then are released on “time-served”.
For those in-custody awaiting their trial (because they cannot meet the requirements for bail), treatment is usually not available and where available, is extremely limited. People charged with minor or non-violent offences often simply move through a cycle of brief periods in custody (too short to qualify for treatment options like at OCI) before being returned into the community. These brief periods of incarceration disrupt and often end supports or treatments that the individual was accessing prior to their arrest and incarceration, especially where the individual does not have stable housing or is suffering from concurrent mental health and addiction issues. Even where treatment is available in-custody, the system does not effectively connect these people with continuing treatment upon their release from custody.
Even people suffering from acute mental health crises (including psychotic episodes) are often arrested and held in jail instead of being taken to hospital for psychiatric treatment even when only charged for minor or non-violent offences committed while in crises. People taken into custody in the midst of a mental health crisis who are too unwell to understand the court processes are held in custody awaiting a bail hearing to proceed only at a point when the person is “well” enough. These people may receive psychiatric treatment while in-custody. Unfortunately however, for most, the only availability for pre-trial acute psychiatric treatment creates a significant risk of indefinite detention in a psychiatric jail, even where the accused is charged with only minor or non-violent offences.
Broken Record - the JHS’s New Website
In 2013, the John Howard Society released a report called “Unlocking Change - Decriminalizing Mental Health Issues in Ontario”. This extensive report highlights the way our justice system is failing our mentally-ill and by extension our communities. The JHS have now also lunched a new website, called “Broken Record” seeking to raise broader awareness of these issues.
On the website, the Society makes a number of recommendations aimed at tackling the criminalisation of the mentally-ill in Ontario, including:
A strong community mental health system to ensure that people get care long before issues escalate to the point of triggering involvement in the criminal justice system;
Less reliance on police for intervention in mental health crises, and a greater use of dedicated first responders trained in handling mental health cases humanely and effectively: the mental health equivalent of paramedics;
Restrictions on the involvement of the justice system for people with mental health issues, and emphasis on harm reduction when the mentally-ill do come into the justice system.
The adoption of a “charge approval model”: where a Prosecutor must approve a charge before it can be laid. This way, only charges that have sufficient evidence for conviction and serve the public interest proceed. At present, police lay charges and the prosecution is required to review the charge only after it is laid and sometimes this review does not happen quickly enough.
Treatment for addiction and mental health issues should be made available for those in-custody.
Assessments for Mental Health and Addition issues should be mandated to occur within 96 hours of an accused person’s admission to jail.
The system should be able to seamlessly transition services and treatments from the community into the jail and back again. The system should be able to accommodate seamless, coordinated care, including access to medication, harm reduction measures and methadone. To achieve this outcome, the Society recommends that the Ministry of Health should assume responsibility for the provision of all health care in jails to ensure continuity and equality of care.
Wellington County and Guelph are not well-served by the criminalisation of our mentally-ill. The status quo creates safety risks for us all by inadequately treating those who may commit offences while unwell. There is much human suffering that we could avoid or minimise in our community through proper community-based (out-of-custody) mental health supports and treatment. Instead, this suffering continues on a daily basis as our justice system cycles our mentally-ill and addicted friends, neighbours and family members, in and out of custody without ever addressing the underlying health issues.
If you or a friend or loved-one are caught in this cycle, and has been arrested in Guelph or Wellington County, contact Perrin Valli.