Senator Eldridge Testifies on His Bill to Improve Mental Health for Incarcerated People
Legislation would require suicidal incarcerated people to be transferred to a psychiatric hospital
Boston, MA - On Monday, June 28th, State Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton) testified on legislation he filed with Rep. Brandy Fluker-Oakley (D-Boston), S.1283/H.2089, An Act to Ensure the Constitutional Rights and Human Dignity of Prisoners on Mental Health Watch, before the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use, and Recovery.
“As the Senate chair of the Criminal Justice Reform Caucus, I have visited many prisons, including the 2 prisons in my district. Providing adequate mental health treatment is not just about taking care of incarcerated people in prison but helping them become more productive citizens once they’re released, as well as improving public safety within the prison,” said Senator Eldridge.
"Instead of diagnosing mental health conditions and providing care from mental health professionals, our system punishes people with isolation. Holding someone in isolation is traumatizing under any circumstances, and subjecting individuals in mental health crises to these conditions compounds existing trauma and is inhumane,” said Rep. Fluker Oakley.
This landmark legislation will overhaul mental health treatment of people who are incarcerated. For example, people in prison who are on “mental health watch” because they are at risk of suicide are isolated with minimal clothing and subjected to dehumanizing treatment from guards. This bill is a direct response to the 2020 report issued by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) detailing specific examples of willful disregard for prisoner safety in the Massachusetts Department of Corrections (DOC).
Right now, 36% of males and 81% of females in Massachusetts’ prisons have open mental health cases exacerbated by the prison environment. The legislation seeks to rectify very serious human rights and constitutional concerns identified in the DOJ report by requiring more comprehensive mental health treatment for prisoners on mental health watch, transfer to psychiatric hospitals if needed support cannot be provided by DOC, and independent review of all completed and attempted suicides, along with recommendations for changes in protocol after each incident.
This bill would prohibit our prisons and jails from placing prisoners on mental health watch in what is effectively solitary confinement, ensure all decisions made about the treatment of such prisoners are made by qualified mental health professionals, and remove officers from watching prisoners on mental health watch if the officers violate suicide prevention policies.
The Massachusetts Association for Mental Health and National Alliance for Mental Health (NAMI) support this bill.
“We know that people with behavioral health conditions are significantly overrepresented in prisons and jails, and that restrictive and inhumane practices exacerbate the inherent trauma of incarceration,” said Danna Mauch, President & CEO of the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health. “Too often, this leads to lifelong mental health conditions that disrupt successful transitions back into the community and undermine the efforts of incarcerated people to rehabilitate themselves. Significant reform is needed to address these concerns – and fortunately, the nation’s leading prison accreditation organizations and experts in prison suicide prevention have outlined best practices that Massachusetts can adopt.”
Now, the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse will deliberate to decide whether to report the bill favorably.
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