{"id":279116,"date":"2025-11-12T22:47:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T22:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/279116\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T22:47:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T22:47:09","slug":"federal-prison-service-ill-equipped-to-deliver-long-term-mental-health-care-watchdog-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/279116\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal prison service \u2018ill-equipped\u2019 to deliver long-term mental health care, watchdog says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Insufficient training for staff on how to work effectively and humanely with individuals with mental health issues has contributed to poor quality of care in corrections.DARRYL DYCK\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Weak policies, insufficient training and a lack of specialized treatment are hindering the Correctional Service of Canada\u2019s efforts to deliver mental health care, the federal prison ombudsman says in his latest annual report.<\/p>\n

Correctional investigator Ivan Zinger says it\u2019s \u201cabundantly clear\u201d the prison service is fundamentally ill-equipped to provide long-term mental health care to people experiencing acute psychiatric distress, suicidal thoughts or chronic self-injury.<\/p>\n

In cases involving such serious mental illnesses, transfers to external, secure, community-based psychiatric hospitals are necessary, Zinger says in the report.<\/p>\n

The Correctional Service of Canada routinely transfers individuals requiring complex physical care \u2013 such as chemotherapy or heart surgery \u2013 to external hospitals, Zinger notes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be unthinkable to attempt such procedures in-house,\u201d he writes. \u201cYet, when it comes to mental health, CSC continues to operate under the misguided belief that it can provide specialized psychiatric care internally.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The report draws on the findings from six national investigations that Zinger\u2019s office conducted on mental health care for federally sentenced individuals.<\/p>\n

The office says it carried out 425 interviews with people in custody and on community release, made site visits and met with institutional and community staff, community-based stakeholders, Indigenous organizations and provincial correctional authorities.<\/p>\n

Zinger\u2019s office says it found weak, vague, outdated or non-existent national policies have led to ineffective, confusing and inconsistent direction and implementation of mental health services.<\/p>\n

Insufficient training for staff on how to work effectively and humanely with individuals with mental health issues has contributed to poor quality of care in corrections, the report says.<\/p>\n

An absence of effective screening and assessment of mental health issues has created \u201ca domino effect\u201d of poor identification and access to services, excluding many who need enhanced care, the report adds.<\/p>\n

Zinger also found a lack of specialized options for programming and treatment, or opportunities to acquire skills that would support the successful release of offenders.<\/p>\n

The federal prison ombudsman says weak policies, insufficient training and a lack of specialized treatment are hindering the Correctional Service of Canada’s efforts to deliver mental health care.<\/p>\n

The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

One of the investigations focused on the prison service\u2019s five Regional Treatment Centres.<\/p>\n

Treatment centres present \u201ca unique dynamic\u201d in that they are hybrid facilities \u2013 psychiatric hospitals guided in part by provincial health legislation, operating within a federal penitentiary setting subject to federal legislation, the report says.<\/p>\n

All of the treatment centres, except for the Regional Psychiatric Centre in the Prairie region, are located within larger penitentiary sites.<\/p>\n

Zinger found the centres can be best described as intermediate and geriatric care facilities, with limited emergency mental health capacity for acute cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should therefore be reprofiled and recognized as such,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n

Zinger, who said he plans to retire at the end of January, told a media conference Wednesday the corrections system was never designed to meet the needs of people with serious mental illness.<\/p>\n

\u201cSimply put, these facilities are outdated, ill-equipped and increasingly resemble warehouses for the mentally ill and for aging and medically vulnerable individuals, rather than places of care, treatment and recovery,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Individuals with acute and long-term psychiatric needs should be transferred, under section 29 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, to specialized, external facilities capable of delivering the appropriate care, the report says.<\/p>\n

Continuing to house these individuals in treatment centres operated by the Correctional Service is ineffective, inappropriate and a clear violation of human rights, it adds.<\/p>\n

Zinger calls the federal plan for a $1.3-billion replacement facility in the Atlantic region \u201ca profound misallocation of resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rather than investing in another in-house facility, the government should have directed the prison service to partner with provincial health systems to expand access to secure psychiatric beds in the community, the report says.<\/p>\n

In a response included in Zinger\u2019s report, the prison service says it has a health system and delivery model built \u201cto provide services that are matched to level of need.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Correctional Service says its health services, including the Regional Treatment Centres, are accredited by Accreditation Canada, the same organization that accredits hospitals and other service providers in communities across the country.<\/p>\n

The prison service notes it also has a partnership with the lnstitut Philippe-Pinel de Montr\u00e9al to provide in-patient psychiatric care to male and female offenders, subject to meeting Pinel\u2019s admission criteria.<\/p>\n

The service says it will continue to engage with provincial psychiatric hospitals to supplement existing capacity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis engagement is done in acknowledgment of the limited capacity of provincial health care facilities to provide care to federal inmates, particularly in relation to their ability to admit federal inmates with complex mental health and security needs,\u201d the response says.<\/p>\n

The prison service says it is also conducting \u201ca comprehensive review\u201d of its Regional Treatment Centres to provide a standardized baseline of service provision.<\/p>\n

The review will focus on ensuring that services align with needs and reflect an appropriate mix of psychiatric hospital care, intermediate mental health care and short-term medical care, the Correctional Service says.<\/p>\n

The planned new facility in Dorchester, N.B., will be \u201ca modern, bilingual, purpose-built health care facility\u201d that will support the prison service in advancing its patient-centred health care model, the service adds.<\/p>\n

Zinger\u2019s report says inadequate mental health support jeopardizes public safety by leaving incarcerated people without essential health and mental addictions care upon release from prison.<\/p>\n

The Correctional Service has accepted some of the recommendations flowing from Zinger\u2019s studies, including a call to remove barriers to accessing government-funded care upon release through better collaboration with provinces, territories and community partners.<\/p>\n

Emilie Coyle of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, an advocacy group for women and gender-diverse people in the correctional system, welcomed Zinger\u2019s report.<\/p>\n

Coyle said in a \u201ctough-on-crime\u201d public environment, there is less willingness to understand that those who end up behind bars are the most in need of support, \u201cthe most marginalized, the most forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are people who have mental health disabilities, who have substance use issues, and who are not receiving the care they need in community,\u201d Coyle added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Insufficient training for staff on how to work effectively and humanely with individuals…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279117,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,84,889,890,884,904,393,394,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-279116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-health","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}