Disability Rights Oregon (DRO) has released a new report, “A Merry Go Round That Never Stops: Mental Illness in the Multnomah County Detention Center.” Along with other DRO staff, a few volunteers, and Lewis + Clark Law School students, I have spent the past eight months investigating conditions at MCDC for detainees with significant mental health concerns.
We found that our clients in jail endure treatment and conditions that are traumatizing, dangerous, and even life threatening.
Jail has become our community’s default behavioral health hospital, a role for which is it under-resourced, understaffed, and undertrained. Between 40-80% of people incarcerated in the jail have mental health concerns, and yet deputies working in the jail receive no mental health or crisis intervention training.
Instead, staff respond to behaviors related to mental health crisis with the tools typical of jail and prison settings: routinized force and conditions of extreme social and sensory deprivation.
Detainees with mental illness at MCDC rarely access to fresh air or human contact. Solitary confinement is the default placement for detainees with mental illness. Even visits with mental health workers often occur through the food port of a cell.
The report also details instances of violence and abuse, highlighting two deputies who were known to have a track record of misconduct but were not held accountable.
The report includes detailed recommendations to bring jail conditions up to constitutional standards, including steps to:
End solitary confinement for people with serious mental illness;
Strengthen supports for people with mental health issues in custody;
Create a new protocol for responding to mental health related behavior in jail; and
Improve oversight and accountability to remedy systemic race and disability disparities, and prevent staff misconduct.
It is important to bear in mind, however, that there is no amount of funding, staffing, or policy changes that can transform the jail into a safe, therapeutic environment for people whose primary need is behavioral healthcare. When a detainee is returned to the streets in greater distress than when taken into custody, the jail is failing its role to protect the person and public safety.
We must focus on ending the jail’s role as a dumping ground for people who lack a welcoming destination. Our communities are stronger when our policies and practices reflect the intrinsic value of all human beings.
Disability Rights Oregon envisions a city and county in which people with disabilities are integrated into the fabric of daily life through supports. To accomplish this, we need to invest upstream in affordable, supportive housing and robust community mental health services.
If you believe individuals should have access to community mental health services and supports, rather than being locked behind closed doors, here are three actions you can take:
- Contact your elected officials. Contact your county commissioner and ask her to help create more stable communities by:
- Treating individuals with mental illness in the community
- Strengthening supports for people with mental health issues in custody
- Creating a new protocol for responding to mental health related behavior in jail
- Contact your state legislator to support policy changes that would support community integration rather than incarceration for people with mental illness. The Oregon state legislature is considering bills this session that would:
- Require diversion of people in serious mental health crisis from jail to the nearest hospital or facility approved by Oregon Health Authority.
- Create a deadline for completing evaluation of people with mental illness who are incarcerated (HB 2631)
- Limit the use of Oregon State Hospital for restorative treatment of people with mental illness in criminal cases, by expanding options for community-based treatment (SB 132)
For more on DRO’s work in the legislature on these and other bills, join our weekly Legislative Update.
