WHEREAS:

Some 1.6 million inmates are confined in non-federal prisons, detention centers and jails in the United States; and

WHEREAS:

Clinical studies suggest that 6 to 15 percent of inmates in city and county jails and 10 to 15 percent of inmates in state prisons have severe mental illness; and

WHEREAS:

Growing numbers of people with mental illness and with developmental disabilities are being placed in the criminal justice system for many reasons, including: irresponsible deinstitutionalization, more rigid criteria for civil commitment, lack of adequate community-based programs for persons with mental illness and those with developmental disabilities, and difficulties of offenders with mental illness and with developmental disabilities getting access to community treatment; and

WHEREAS:

Inmates are mandated to receive health care, but they are denied Medicaid eligibility, placing the financial burden of providing health care services for them on local and state governments; and

WHEREAS:

Over one-third of AFSCME membership includes workers in the corrections and health care industries combined, including correctional officers and other workers in the criminal justice system, mental health and mental retardation/development disability (MR/DD) workers, public health workers, and health care workers employed in jails and prisons; and

WHEREAS:

The growth in prison inmates continues to outpace the growth in staff hired to work in our prisons and jails, creating hazardous conditions and security risks for inmates, corrections employees, and the communities within which they work; and

WHEREAS:

Training for correctional officers in recognizing and dealing with people with mental illness and developmental disabilities is often inadequate, and sometimes completely nonexistent; and

WHEREAS:

Our state mental health institutions and developmental disability centers have an experienced workforce but declining resident populations due to deinstitutionalization, which threatens the survival of these institutions and the availability of appropriate care for the most profoundly affected individuals with mental illness and with developmental disabilities; and

WHEREAS:

The U.S. Department of Justice is now suing states under federal Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA) for the treatment of persons with mental illness and juveniles in the criminal justice system, and other CRIPA lawsuits have been filed on behalf of residents of mental health and MR/DD institutions; and

WHEREAS:

Many people with mental illness and with developmental disabilities who commit serious crimes and enter the criminal justice system might not have engaged in such behavior if they had been receiving adequate and appropriate treatment.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

That AFSCME International work with councils, locals and affiliates to explore innovative approaches in appropriate secure settings to deal with the problem of growing numbers of inmates with mental illness and with developmental disabilities in the criminal justice system; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME International meet with officials of the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to advocate federal funding for demonstration projects that address these problems and to discuss other appropriate actions; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME advocate to change federal rules to allow Medicaid eligibility for inmates; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:

That AFSCME continue to advocate for improved staffing levels and for adequate and appropriate training for corrections employees working with persons with mental illness and with developmental disabilities as well as for mental health and MR/DD workers working with forensic patients.

SUBMITTED BY:

Robert L. Weinmann, M.D., President and Delegate 
Deane Hillsman, M.D., Secretary
Union of American Physicians and Dentists/AFSCME Local 206
California