Maximum Risks

Dear Rep. Campbell,

 

For the past several years there have been calls for the prison director’s resignation which has led to hundreds of suicides and a no confidence vote by the correctional officers’ union. It appears the director’s record of delivering sound medical / mental health services along with a booming institutional death rate is far from being acceptable according to national healthcare standards of care. Arizona ranks about sixth in the nation on suicides and nobody seems to be too concerned about this matter. In fact, Governor Brewer has praised the director several times saying she thought he was doing a very good job and impressed with his handling and understanding of the Arizona prison system. To this day, the director has only admitted superficial flaws exist and that he is working on reducing his conditions of confinement from maximum risk to changes that will lower those risks. So far, his plan is not working very well.

It is with some certainty he is reorganizing the healthcare services as he terminated one contractor and hired another in mid contract due to contractual deficiencies that delayed the delivery of medical care and sound healthcare practices inside prisons. However, he has failed to reduce the maximum risks that are currently impacting the current rate of deaths inside the prisons that are routinely written off as natural deaths, suicides or homicides.

The fact remains these numbers have not been reduced to any significant level and continue to exist while burdening the correctional officers with the laborious tasks of maintain a status quo with less resources and staffing than ever before inside the lockdown units. In this matter, these correctional officers are tasked to do the impossible as there is a shortage of staff at those critical positions that are legally and morally responsible for sound correctional practices.

It is highly recommended the Arizona legislature conduct an review of the whole system through independent impact statements related to staffing deployment plans of medical/mental health staff, custodial employees and other resources dedicated to handle treatment and programs of the high risk offenders susceptible to committing suicides or become victims in a violent assault or death by predatory gangs or individuals housed with the severely mentally ill in general population and lockdown units. Many of these offenders are unable to cope with this risk of being harmed on an open yard and are asking for protection in the lockdowns where the suicide rate is the highest.

This oversight and interview process should focus on conditions of confinement and the quality of care, training and communication with special needs offenders that are dying at an alarming rate weekly. It should also focus on leadership capabilities within the agency and the administrative oversight of medical, mental health and other specialized needs to ensure compliance with constitutional rights for fair treatment and quality services.

It is suspected that there are a variety of reasons for this deficiency, not because of people doing bad things but rather systems not in proper working in order to accomplish better delivery of services rendered by either the private medical contractor or custodial staff. There needs to be better accountability for the high number of deaths and putting his hands up and saying that is part of being incarcerated inside a penitentiary is not a suitable response. A plan needs to be devised to ensure the numbers are reduced and suicide intervention methods are active and working. I pray you will offer a solution to this problem as you have researched this matter as well.

While the legislative oversight committee is researching causes for the above mentioned concerns, it might also want to review standards of care and practices to concerns related to AIDS / HIV, Hepatitis, MRSA, Staph infections and other communicable disease concerns that poison the community upon the offender’s release. It should also review the care of the elderly and the medical costs associated with such incarceration care and review alternatives for those eligible for early release and non-violent offenders in crime committed and institutional adjustment history.