Mental Health Crisis in Canadian Correctional Facilities

Mental Health Crisis in Canadian Correctional Facilities
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Mental Health Crisis in Canadian Correctional Facilities
While Canada’s criminal justice system remains committed to justice for all and equality before the law, the offenders in incarceration continue to undergo untold sufferings in the correctional facilities. The latest case in point is the current mental health crisis witnessed in Canadian facilities (Kouyoumdjian et al., 2016). Prisoners with mental health problems are at the very receiving end of a system obsessed with tough-on-crime policies. This research paper focuses on a critical study of mental health crisis in Canadian correctional facilities by addressing two key issues. One, mental health services within Canada’s correctional justice system is systematically underfunded and often inaccessible during the incarceration of an offender. Two, these issues have led to recent increase in cases of mental health services being challenged in court under section 15 of the Charter of Rights.
Correctional Institutions and the Shared Jurisdiction
More than 250,000 adults are admitted to Canada’s correctional facilities every year. This translates to about 40,000 people held in correctional facilities on a daily average (Kouyoumdjian et al., 2016). Jurisdiction over correctional institutions is shared between provincial, federal and territorial governments. Offenders serving less than two years are held in provincial and territorial facilities while those imprisoned for two or more years housed by federal authorities. The delivery of healthcare in custody is done by governmental authorities responsible for health or by those responsible for corrections (Thompson et al., 2015). For instance, in Alberta and Nova Scotia, healthcare services are the responsibility of government health department. In Ontario and federal facilities on the other hand, the responsibility is with the governmental authority responsible for corrections.[Offenders held in provincial and territorial facilities include those in remand and those detained on immigration hold awaiting deportation.]
The Legal Framework and Status of Health Care Services in Correctional Facilities
The Canadian Corrections and Conditional Release Act provide for the health standards necessary in federal facilities. The Act is categorical that persons in prison should be accorded necessary healthcare services upon request by the prisoner. The healthcare service that should be accessible to the prisoners includes services for mental problem. Despite the clear and express provision of the law, the authority charged with the responsibility of providing health care services in federal facilities have not lived by the spirit of the legislation (IRPP, 2019). The federal correctional facilities lack adequate healthcare professionals to provide services to the prisoners. The facilities also lack special care services that are necessary for the mentally ill persons.[Corrections and Conditional Act, 1999.]
Provincial facilities are not doing any better in responding to the healthcare need of prisoners with mental health problems. Canadian Health Act is the federal legislation governing health care delivery. The Act set healthcare measures that must be met by provincial or territorial correctional facilities. It provides that where prisoners are held should have healthcare services and equipment necessary for their wellbeing. However, most of them lack necessary healthcare services at their disposal as anticipated by the law.[Canada Health Act. RCS 1985 C-6.]
Lack and inadequacy of the services within correctional facilities across the country has resulted to death of inmates in custody with the mentally ill being the most affected. A total of 34 inmates have died in provincial custody since 2015(Kouyoumdjian et al., 2016). Some of the deaths resulted from altercation between correctional officers and inmates. Some inmates also committed suicide after deterioration of their mental health resulting from lack of proper healthcare services. The death of inmates while in custody is attributed to poor healthcare services and inadequate staff in correctional facilities (Simpson et al., 2013). Other prisoners have also had their mental health condition worsened due to lack of proper care. This is a clear breach of prisoners’ right under the Constitution and supporting statues.
As stated by the United Nations, “Prisoners shall have access to the health services available in the country without discrimination on the grounds of their legal situation.” The current mental health crisis in Canadian correctional facilities is evident that the government has breached its obligation under the international law by failing to ensure availability of healthcare services in prisons (Goff, 2008). Therefore, the current state of affairs amounts to not only breach of rights of prisoners but a violation of the country’s international obligation to ensure prisoners are accorded healthcare services.[General Assembly of the United Nations. Basic Principles for the treatment of prisoners. New York, NY: United Nationss 1990.]
Evidence of Mental Health Crisis in Canadian Correctional Facilities
Most prisoners in correctional facilities have mental problems and a good number die while in custody. The number of prisoners who died in federal custody between the year 2003 and 2013 are 356 while 237 people died in provincial or territorial facilities between the years 2001 and 2010 (Koumnoudjian et al., 2017, n.p & Fagan, 2011). The rate of mentally ill prisoners dying in custody is more than the general population. This is greater than the total number of persons with mental illness among the general population.
The number of inmates with mental problems is skyrocketing. Between 2017 and 2018 alone, four people inmates reportedly died in prison and all of them were experiencing health issues (Simpson et al., 2015 & Koumnoudjian et al., 2017). The major causes of inmate mortality are overcrowding, segregation, lack of routinely and emergency medical attention for mentally challenged inmates in need of special medical intervention. Systematic underfunding of correctional facilities is another challenge. The funding is not proportionate to the needs o and capacity of respective facilities (Simpson et al., 2015). Putting an inmate of metal health problem is not a medical solution to the problem and therefore does not help but worsen the situation. There are cases of reported death of mentally ill inmates which resulted from the latter being placed in solitary confinement. Solitary confinement or segregation on is considered an enabling environment for death or further injury of inmates with mental health problem.
The right to Mental Health Services in Correctional Facilities
Perhaps the current conspicuous pointer of the mental health crisis in Canadian correctional facilities is the recent increase in cases of mental health services being challenged in court under section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedom. Everyone including persons with mental health problems have a right to the protection and benefit of the law including the constitutional right to the highest attainable health standards. Several studies and literature indicate there is continued breach of the rights of mentally ill persons in territorial, provincial and federal correctional facilities (Goff, 2008). The crisis in the facilities raises a constitutional issue falling within the jurisdiction of the Canadian Supreme Court.[Section 15 of the Charter of Rights provides that;(1) Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and in particular without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, color, region, sex, age or mental or physical disability.(2) Subsection (1) does not preclude any law, program or activity that has as its object the amelioration of conditions of disadvantaged individuals or groups including those that are disadvantaged because race, national or ethnic origin, color, region, sex, age or mental or physical disability.]
The unavailability and inaccessibility of mental healthcare services in Canada’s correctional facilities has seen many prisoners, human right commission and lobby groups petition the Supreme Court of Canada citing breach of constitutional right under section 15 of the Charter of right. In the case of Gwindon v Canada, the applicant petitioned the Court seeking among other things the interpretation of section 15 of the charter of Right. The applicant argue...