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OTTAWA - The federal prison ombudsman says the practice of locking up mentally ill offenders alone for long periods must end to help cut the risk of death behind bars.
Howard Sapers, the correctional investigator, also calls for round-the-clock health care at medium- and maximum-security prisons, more rigorous patrols and head counts, better education for front-line staff who respond to crises, and stronger accountability and oversight.
"This is challenging work. There aren't any shortcuts," Sapers told a news conference as he released an extensive report Wednesday on the Correctional Service's response to deaths in custody.
Sapers concludes many of the same structures and policies that failed teenager Ashley Smith three years ago remain in place.
He has harshly criticized the prison service over the 2007 death of 19-year-old Smith, who choked herself with a strip of cloth at the Grand Valley prison in Kitchener, Ont. Video evidence shows staff failed to respond immediately to the emergency.
Sapers found Smith received only a cursory mental health assessment, care and treatment.
In the space of less than one year, she had been moved 17 times between three federal penitentiaries, two treatment facilities, two outside hospitals and one provincial correctional facility.
Even though she had serious mental health issues, aggravated by years of isolation in provincial institutions, the Correctional Service kept her apart from the general prison population under a highly restrictive and at times inhumane regime, Sapers found.
Since Smith's death, more than 130 offenders have died in federal custody, Sapers said. He examined nine of these cases in detail, saying they underscore long-standing gaps and problems.
In one case, a 43-year-old man with mental health issues hanged himself with strips of bed sheet. Despite peculiar and agitated behaviour, he was put back in his cell to await an interview with the prison psychologist. No one ordered additional monitoring of the disturbed man.
"Mistakes and recommendations should not need to be repeated," says the report.
Sapers said the challenges will only increase. Federal moves to crack down on crime through measures including minimum sentences are expected to see the prison population swell in coming years.
"And I can tell you right now that the service does not have the capacity to deal with that," he said. "They don't have the space, they don't have the people, they don't have the programs."
The Correctional Service did not respond to a request for comment.
In his report on deaths in custody, Sapers found:
— A lack of emergency equipment, delays in responding to crises and sometimes inadequate medical care;
— Poor information-sharing between medical and correctional workers;
— Shoddy patrols that failed to ensure prisoners were alive and well;
— Placement of offenders with mental-health concerns in segregation for lengthy periods;
— Flawed investigations that were not always chaired by independent clinical professionals.
Last December, Sapers asked the service to clearly spell out what it was doing to help the mentally ill in its care. He requested updates on initiatives including treatment plans and the hiring of mental-health professionals.
In March, the Correctional Service promised to more closely monitor offenders with mental-health problems placed in segregation.
Ten to 12 per cent of offenders entering the federal prison system have a significant mental problem.
NDP public safety critic Don Davies, who has visited several federal prisons recently, said the resources necessary for proper mental-health care are sorely lacking.
"There's not enough psychologists, there's not enough psychiatric nurses," said Davies, calling it a far cry from the 24-hour care that Sapers recommends.
Davies squarely lays the blame on Conservative shoulders.
"Not only are they failing to address those needs, but they're going to compound the problem by putting more people into the system."
The focus should be on helping prisoners make their way back into communities following release, said Kim Pate, executive director of the Elizabeth Fry societies of Canada.
Instead, a larger prison population will likely result in increasingly risky situations for offenders and staff, she said.
"We know that we're likely to see more violence within the prisons, fewer opportunities for people to actually work their way out of the institutions."
