Prison Mental Healthcare

Current Activities

The Project is engaged in a multi-year initiative to assess the treatment of inmates with mental illness and to monitor the implementation of the SHU Exclusion Law. With our unique mandate to visit prisons, we can provide on-the-ground assessments of mental health services by inspecting treatment areas, interviewing inmates receiving Office of Mental Health (OMH) services in the prison and meeting with the mental health treatment staff.

The Project has visited several prisons with residential mental health units, including Five Points, Wende, Mid-State, Sing Sing, and Great Meadow Correctional Facilities. In addition, Project staff meets regularly with OMH officials and the Commission on Quality of Care and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities (the state agency charged with overseeing implementation of the SHU Exclusion Law) to report our findings, advocate for additional regulations that limit the use of Special Housing Units for inmates with mental illness, and support the implementation of treatment programs that create a therapeutic environment for the delivery of effective mental health care.