NCJ Number
130503
Date Published
1991
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This report examines the extent to which mentally ill individuals in Federal, State, and local correctional facilities are subject to abuse and neglect as defined by the Protection and Advocacy for Mentally Individuals Act of 1986 and assesses whether mentally ill individuals in correctional facilities are covered by this Act.
Abstract
The extent to which mentally ill individuals in correctional facilities experience abuse and neglect is unknown. The National Institute of Mental Health reported in 1989 that 533 of the 18,498 cases handled by the Protection and Advocacy Systems for the Mentally Ill (PAMI) dealt with prison and jail inmates. According to Federal Bureau of Prisons records, 18 inmates filed grievances involving mental health complaints since 1986. These figures may be incomplete because cases of abuse or neglect may not have been reported. Studies on the mentally ill in correctional facilities and testimonial information from the 1988 hearing before the Senate Subcommittee on the Handicapped suggest that mentally ill individuals in State prisons and jails are subject to abuse and neglect. Legal support exists for the 1987 opinion of the Office of General Counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services that mentally ill individuals in Federal correctional and noncorrectional facilities are not covered by the Act. A change in the law would be required to extend coverage to mentally ill individuals in Federal facilities. 3 appendixes