Commissioner's Speeches

Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security (SECU) "Correctional Services of Canada: Mental Health and Addictions"

Remarks by:

Don Head, Commissioner, Correctional Service of Canada
June 11, 2009

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Good morning everyone.

I’m pleased to be here and I would like to thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today.

Over the last decade, due to a number of factors, we have seen a significant change in the offender population profile, and this reality has posed serious challenges for CSC.

One of the key changes includes an increase in the number of offenders who arrive at our institutions with mental health problems and substance abuse problems.

To give you an example, the percentage of male offenders identified at intake as having a mental health issue has increased by 71 per cent since 1997, while the number of women offenders with mental health issues has increased by 61 per cent over the same time period.

As a service, we must find ways to address these challenges in providing mental health services and we must continue to strive to improve both the standard of care as well as the correctional results for federal offenders with mental health conditions. It is crucial that we continue to enhance this capacity because addressing the needs of offenders with mental health issues not only reduces their vulnerability, but helps to reduce the risk they pose to others, thereby contributing to public safety for Canadians.

Over the last five years, we have enhanced our efforts and continued to work diligently to identify gaps in our mental health services, and implement new programs, policies, services and initiatives to address the issues.

In support of these initiatives, we received a total of $29.1 million over five years to strengthen the continuum of specialized mental health support from institutions to the community, within the context of the Community Mental Health Initiative.

In addition in 2007, CSC was funded $21.5 million over two years to support key elements of its Institutional Mental Health Strategy. And in the 2008 Federal Budget, CSC received permanent funding of $16.6 million annually for institutional mental health services, commencing 2009-2010.

These funds have gone a long way towards establishing a continuum of mental health services to meet the needs of federal offenders from intake to warrant expiry. For example:

• CSC is implementing a computerized system to screen and assess all new offenders at intake.
• All institutions are putting in place a multi-disciplinary team of mental health professionals to provide basic, mental health services and supports.

I’m pleased to inform you that critical aspects of the comprehensive Mental Health Strategy are also currently being implemented, including building capacity in federal institutions and supporting offenders to return safely to communities. It is a strategy designed to improve the continuum of mental health care and intervention provided to offenders, from the time of admission until the end of the offender’s sentence in the community. For example:

• Interdisciplinary mental health teams provide offenders with access to co-ordinated and comprehensive mental health care within their institutions.
• Clinical social workers provide clinical discharge planning to support offenders with mental disorders being released from an institution to the community.

CSC's Treatment Centres are also an important component of the continuum of care, as they assist in addressing the intensive, acute needs of offenders with a mental health disorder.

Treatment centres have well defined admission and discharge criteria, and referrals for admission are made by mental health professionals in regular institutions for various types of mental health conditions.

However, there are some complexities with convincing an offender to agree to participate in treatment.

Since the Centres are designated as hospitals, they must operate in accordance with the provincial acts governing health care, including the Mental Health Act.

Provincial law requires that a patient must either be placed in a hospital voluntarily, or – if the patient is assessed by a physician as not being competent to give consent – on an involuntary basis under certification. This certification must be renewed regularly.

• the clinical team assesses that a discharge is appropriate (treatment complete);
• the offender decides to leave/refuses to accept treatment and cannot be held within the provisions of the provincial mental health act; or
• the offender has a mandated release date, regardless of the above – Parole, Statutory Release, or Warrant Expiry

It should be noted that, in some instances, it can be difficult to move an offender to a Treatment Centre, or to keep them there, in order to get the help and support he or she needs if they are unwilling.

In order to continue to support and treat the growing number of offenders with mental health problems, the Service is taking strides to boost its human resource capacity. Last year, CSC established a Recruitment and Retention Strategy for Health Professionals, including psychologists and other mental health professionals, to recruit and retain qualified candidates.

Implementation of the Strategy is now underway and focuses on communication and advertising of CSC health positions, targeted recruitment, and promoting a healthy workplace that promotes professional development.

Compounding mental health challenges is the fact that four out of five offenders now arrive at a federal institution with a substance abuse problem, with one out of two having committed their crime under the influence of drugs, alcohol or other intoxicants.

Unfortunately, an offender’s substance abuse problems will likely continue once they have entered an institution. A major contributor to institutional violence is drug trafficking, both in street drugs and prescription drugs. This creates a challenge to ensure our institutions are safe and secure for both staff and offenders. It also has a significant impact on an offender’s willingness and capacity to successfully participate in, and complete, substance abuse programs.

Preventing drugs from entering our federal institutions is an ongoing issue, and it is the diligent work of CSC staff that helps us tackle this challenge.

Consequently, CSC continues to develop plans and implement measures to reduce violence and illicit drugs in our institutions through the Anti-Drug Strategy.

This strategy focuses on the three key elements of prevention, treatment and intervention, as well as interdiction. One of the goals is to emphasize a more strategic use of existing interdiction tools. It also aims at:

• an awareness program to inform visitors, contractors and staff about the repercussions of smuggling drugs into penitentiaries;
• increased monitoring of those offenders and other individuals potentially involved in the drug trade;
• increased disciplinary measures; and
• a broadening of offender’s awareness of substance abuse programs.

In addition, CSC staff members use a number of tools to prevent drugs from getting into our institutions, such as X-ray machines, ion scanners, a 1-800 tip line, and drug detector dogs, as well as a public information campaign.

We will also be piloting a new Integrated Correctional Program Model in designated men’s institutions and community sites in January 2010, for a period of one year.

The Integrated Correctional Program Model will be based on the most effective aspects of our existing correctional programs, and will maximize the Service’s contributions to public safety by helping to ensure that offenders get the right programs, at the right intensity level, at the right time.

Creating an integrated approach to meet those needs is the most cost-effective way of delivering services, particularly as offenders transition to the community.

These are important measures that contribute to making institutions safe, secure, and drug-free, measures that are critical to creating an environment where offenders can concentrate on becoming law-abiding citizens.

In May of 2008, CSC hosted an international symposium on Advancing Solutions to Offender Mental Health Issues. This symposium was organized to allow CSC to consult with other correctional jurisdictions on their best practices.

In December of 2008, CSC hosted a symposium on Managing the Interconnectivity of Gangs and Drugs in Federal Penitentiaries. The symposium proved very successful in allowing Canadian correctional employees and their international counterparts to exchange best practices and ideas to approach gang and drug issues.

As you may be aware, on April 20, 2007, the government appointment of an Independent Review Panel to assess the operational priorities, strategies and business plans of CSC, with the ultimate goal of enhancing public safety.

The Panel released its report in December 2007, containing 109 recommendations that focus on five key areas:

• offender accountability;
• the elimination of drugs in institutions;
• offender employment and employability;
• physical infrastructure; and
• the elimination of statutory release in favour of earned parole.

In February 2008, CSC established a Transformation Team to lead the Service’s response to the report presented by the Review Panel

CSC’s Transformation agenda was then supported in Budget 2008, with $122 million committed over the next two years. This funding allowed CSC to implement the first critical stage of transformation.

Above and beyond our efforts to address mental health and substance abuse issues, we have focused on areas such as:

• population management;
• safety and security;
• assessment and correctional interventions;
• education and employment;
• women, Aboriginal and ethnocultural offenders
• transition to the community
• victims
• human resource management; and
• physical infrastructure

I believe we are well on our way to improving the federal correctional system and thus enhancing our ability to meet our mandate of contributing to public safety.

In closing, I wish to thank you for this opportunity to speak on CSC’s efforts to address the needs of offenders suffering from mental health and addiction problems and to outline some of the strategies and initiatives we have undertaken.