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About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (April 18, 2018)
SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM ܂ WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2018 ܂ 3B Prison Continued from Page 2B report, Disability Rights Oregon and the Oregon Department of Correc- tions signed a memoran- dum of understanding in 2016. In the memoran- dum, prison officials promised to increase staffing, access to psychi- atric care and out-of-cell time. Within four years, in- mates inside the behav- ioral health unit were ex- pected to receive an aver- age of 10 hours of struc- tured time and 10 hours of unstructured time out- side their cells every week. Time out of their cells could include meals, phone calls, playing games, receiving mental health treatment and tak- ing classes. Now at the midpoint of that four-year goal, Dis- ability Rights Oregon Ex- ecutive Director Bob Joondeph said he's trou- bled by the lack of pro- gress toward reducing the number of hours spent in solitary confinement. During the final quar- ter of 2017, behavioral health inmates spent an average of almost 23 hours a day in confine- ment. In that same time period, almost three of every four inmates spent less than an hour out of cell per day. "We're very concerned that we're not going to reach our goal," Joondeph said. "We haven't really moved the needle." With the hiring of four additional qualified men- tal health providers —bringing the total as- signed to the unit in 2017 up to nine — and a new space for therapeutic ac- tivities, Joondeph is hop- ing to see some progress. However, it seems un- likely prison officials will reach their goal of pro- tecting inmates with seri- ous mental health condi- tions from the cruel and unusual punishment of solitary confinement, he added. "People shouldn't be subjected to things that are akin to torture," Joon- deph said. In a letter, Oregon De- partment of Corrections Director Colette Peters said the department has worked digitally at laying the foundation to meet the goals and has made "substantial strides" reaching them. She outlined success- es such as increasing treatment space with the addition of a new $2.1 million building for group and individual therapy in June 2018. Peters also said be- cause of nice weather and additional outdoor recre- ational opportunities, the department exceeded its 10-hour goal unstruc- tured time goal for two weeks this past fall. In January 2016, the unstructured out-of-cell time for inmates averages 1.53 hours a week. The time had increased to 6.1 hours by March 2018, she said. Peters cited the suc- cess of the BHU Bucks Program, a system to re- ward positive behavior. Using funding from the legislature, the de- partment will be able to recruit for or fill positions for 15 additional security staff, five mental health professionals, four sup- port staff and one correc- tional counselor by May. "Although we have not reached our goals yet, we knew at the beginning that there would be sub- stantial known and un- known hurdles to over- come," Peters said. "We believe all of our efforts are the foundation to meet the MOU com- mitments by the end of 2019." Joondeph said ex- cuses of bad weather and inmates unwilling to leave their cells are unac- ceptable. A previous investigation found that prisoners were housed for months at a time, even years, in cells 6-feet-wide and 10-feet-deep with only a thin mattress on a concrete platform and a stainless steel plumbing unit. PHOTO COURTESY OF DISABILITY RIGHTS OREGON "If we are going to have an effective prison sys- tem, we can't blame the rain," he said. And if prisoners are re- luctant to leave their cells, Joondeph added, officials need to analyze the reasons why. Are they afraid for their safety? Do they need therapeutic in- terventions? Do they have any incentive to come out? Positive progress has been made since 2016, the report pointed out. The department of corrections has reduced the number of incidents involving the use of force by staff and self-mutila- tion by inmates. In- creased training and col- laboration between secu- rity and clinicians have made the unit a better en- vironment for treatment. In light of DOC's fail- ure to "meet its bench- marks for humane treat- ment of prisoners," Dis- ability Rights Oregon rec- ommended the department move swiftly to end solitary confine- ment and isolation, in- cluding abolishing the isolation of prisoners with mental illness and NO Hidden Costs TUALATIN SALEM 8970 SW Tualatin Sherwood Rd 412 Lancaster Drive NE (503) 885-7800 (503) 581-6265 TIGARD PORTLAND 12995 SW Pacifi c Hwy 832 NE Broadway (503) 783-6869 (503) 783-3393 MILWAUKIE EASTSIDE 17064 SE McLoughlin Blvd 1433 SE 122nd Ave (503) 653-7076 (503) 783-6865 Privately owned cremation facility. A Family Owned Oregon Business. 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