Barbara Hamilton testifies on deadlocking and punitive care for mentally ill clients

Good afternoon, Chair and Committee Member.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

My name is Barbara Hamilton.

I am the Director of the Incarcerated Client Services Unit at the Legal Aid Society.

I'm going to comment on mental health.

Every day, my office sees people who are in acute crisis over mental health issues at the Department of Correction.

We talk to people in the city jails who have serious mental illness or in psychosis, thinking of self-harm and just trying to receive care.

And often what we see is that they are met with isolation and punitive measures.

So, for example, we have a client who has been deadlocked.

For about a year on and off.

Our staff reported this individual was having hallucinations, and there was no meaningful treatment until there was an act of self-harm.

We have another client who was deadlocked in the PACE unit, who had suffered from serious mental illness.

She was not receiving recreation, access to programming.

When staff went to see her, her clothes were visibly stained with menstrual blood, and she was using cereal boxes to make sanitary products.

We have this matter in court, and we're now in contempt proceedings because the Department of Correction is not obeying a court order to allow this client out of cell time.

So generally what we see is a punitive system that is failing.

has an important role to play, and we urge them to exercise this oversight of DOC and CHS, demand transparency

about what's happening in these units, scrutinize and end the use of isolation and restrictive practices,

as well as supporting housing, alternate programs for incarceration and treatment so people don't end up in jail in the first place.

Thank you.