Amid a soon-to-be-released government review of solitary confinement in Ontario jails, a mental-health organization is urging an immediate halt to the practice for inmates in crisis.

The Schizophrenia Society of Ontario (SSO) made the call in its submission to the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, which is expected to release its hotly anticipated review of segregation rules (or lack thereof) for provincial correctional institutions in the coming weeks, following public consultation this spring.

In its submission, which was provided to QP Briefing, the SSO said people with mental illness are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system and are more likely to be placed in solitary confinement exactly because of their mental state and the behaviour it causes.

Segregation then perpetuates the cycle — symptoms of anxiety, depression or psychosis are amplified by psychologically harmful isolation, said Erin Boudreau, policy and community engagement manager at SSO.

“You can only imagine somebody who has an existing mental-health condition in the correctional system, who has been placed in segregation, how that can have such a negative impact on their mental health," Boudreau said in an interview. “It can exacerbate the existing condition and certainly really, really hamper their chances for long-term recovery."

Inmates with mental illness — most commonly manifested in schizophrenia, which affects 1 per cent of the population worldwide and particularly those between ages 16 and 30 — are about 15-per-cent more likely than their healthy counterparts to be put into segregation in federal prisons. That trend is mirrored in Ontario jails, Boudreau noted.

Women and indigenous people with mental illness were also found to be put into solitary confinement at a higher rate than male inmates.

Ontario prisons have gained a notorious reputation of late, including tales of overcrowding and understaffing, which has led to chronic use of solitary confinement and lockdowns for safety and administrative measures, in addition to discipline.

Earlier this spring, Ontario’s prison watchdog called for an end to indefinite solitary confinement in a scathing report, saying the practice has resulted in more than 500 complaints in the past three years. In one instance, Ombudsman Paul Dubé found an inmate was kept in isolation for three years.

Both the Ombudsman and the United Nations have called for a 15-day cap on solitary confinement – anything longer, and the UN considers it to be torture. The Ontario Human Rights Commission has sounded a similar call.

The SSO wants the practice banned immediately for people with mental illness and eventually phased out for the entire prison population.

The submission makes a total 10 recommendations, including some quick fixes, such as improving record-keeping and mandating psychiatric screening upon admission. Others go to the root of the problem: support services, community housing, the bail and remand system and de-escalation training for correctional officers.

Because schizophrenia and similar mental ailments often go undiagnosed or untreated until later in life, and sometimes not at all, support services are key to rehabilitation post-detention. In Ontario, the system is failing to do that, SSO said. Therefore, it recommends mandatory screening upon entry to assess what, if any, treatment may be required and that a professional psychiatrist be brought in as quickly as possible to conduct testing.

De-escalation training for correctional officers should include a mental-health component and, in particular, show officers what it's like to be in solitary confinement, a la Germany and the Netherlands, where segregation is only used as a final resort and cannot exceed four or two weeks per year, respectively.

As well, a mental-health professional should be on hand to assist correctional officers during inmate interaction. In his July report on police de-escalation tactics in the wake of the Sammy Yatim shooting, the Ombudsman made similar suggestions for provincial law enforcement, including a new use-of-force model, which the ministry said it would adopt.

Boudreau noted SSO has provided skills training to the Toronto Police Service and Canadian Border Services Agency for dealing with people in crisis, and said they would be more than willing to provide the same guidance to correctional officers.

Community and alternative housing would also ease overcrowding for those awaiting trial — and therefore legally innocent, SSO added.

"Impoverished, homeless and otherwise disadvantaged individuals on remand are more likely to be denied bail and held in detention due to risk of flight assessment criteria, which are mainly focused on employment status and residential stability," the report reads.

SSO's submission also suggested a third party should conduct regular reviews, pointing to the United Kingdom, which has an independent officer inspect that jails are up to code every five years. Those reports are made public, something SSO would like to see Ontario publish as well.

Yanni Dagonas, a spokesman for Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services David Orazietti, said in an email that the province's end goal will be to use segregation as a last resort.

"Segregation should never be used lightly," Dagonas said. "We know that segregation can be emotionally and mentally distressing. Individuals who suffer from mental illness are particularly vulnerable. Our goal is that segregation is used only as a last resort, when all other options have been exhausted, and important policy changes have been made. Our updated policies direct that segregation is not to be used for inmates with mental illness unless it can be demonstrated that there is no viable alternative."

Allegedly deplorable conditions have spawned two class-action lawsuits (one certified, the other pending) by former and current inmates that, when coupled, will target all of the 26 correctional institutions under provincial jurisdiction.

This story has been updated from its original version.

To contact the reporter on this story:
snanji@qpbriefing.com
416-212-5789

Ontario must halt segregation of inmates with mental illness, report says

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