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    Advocates worry about looming mental health crisis in North Carolina prisons

    shivachetanbijjal@gmail.comBy shivachetanbijjal@gmail.comJanuary 31, 2023No Comments8 Mins Read
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    Samuel C. Wendt suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, which he said was a result of military service in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is being held at Tabor Correctional Facility and says he still needs mental health care.

    “I can tell you from personal experience that I’m a better person when I can talk about my problems,” Winter, 43, said in a phone interview from prison. “And prison is not a place where you can cry on someone’s shoulder. It’s not.”

    I’m a better person when I can talk about my problems. Prison is not a place where you can cry on someone’s shoulder. But in fact, it’s not.

    Samuel C. Winter

    Winter is not alone. A report by the U.S. Department of Justice estimates that more than one-third of people in prisons have a history of mental health problems.

    In Tabor City, Wendt, who was serving a 26-year sentence for rape, said there were many people in need of mental health care.

    “How can I stress that prisoners need mental health care,” Winter said. “And I’m not just talking about me.”

    But they don’t always receive that kind of care, according to WUNC’s interviews with dozens of inmates and advocates. Restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and now staff shortages mean extended lockdowns and quarantines, they said. This can make it difficult for prisoners to see a psychiatrist. It even affected virtual telehealth appointments.

    One way this manifests itself is through self-harm. In North Carolina, 13 inmates committed suicide last year. That was the highest annual total since at least 1991, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety. Overall, there were 3,347 incidents that required a self-injury risk assessment last year. That’s up from 3,099 in 2019.

    D7lun-suicides-in-nc-prisons-by-year.png

    NC Department of Public Safety

    /

    Annual suicides in North Carolina prisons.

    Joseph Williams directs the UNC Health Corrective Psychiatry Program, which began in 2015. The program now has 15 psychiatrists who provide in-person and telehealth services. Staffing shortages can also affect telehealth services, Williams said, because there aren’t enough staff to escort inmates to designated virtual care spaces.

    “This deprives some of these incarcerated individuals of the ability to see their mental health provider regularly and easily, as this would involve movement of the incarcerated person, and prisons are really trying to suppress that to minimize spread of the virus,” Williams said.

    In 2019, about 31 percent of new inmates were referred for mental health services after their initial prison screening, according to the Department of Public Safety. By 2021, this proportion increases to 47%.

    According to DPS data, the prison system currently has a 36 percent vacancy rate for licensed mental health clinicians. Systemwide, the vacancy rate for correctional staff is about 40 percent. Staffing is by far the largest budget item not just for prisons but for the entire Department of Public Safety. Prison Guardianship and Security receives $900 million in state funding, more than 36 percent of the entire public safety budget.

    ZBtdI-suicide-by-year.png

    NC Department of Public Safety

    /

    Prison suicide rate per 10,000 inmates per year.

    Prison health care and pharmacies make up another chunk of the budget — $288 million. Of that, $41 million went to mental health. Staffing levels can affect drug evaluation and treatment for inmates, Williams said.

    “People may not change these medications quickly enough to address worsening mental health symptoms,” Williams said. “This will lead to worsening mental health.”

    Advocates call for less incarceration as solution

    That’s all the more reason to shorten more sentences, prison reform advocates say. North Carolina’s prison population has been in steady decline since peaking in 2011 and is now at its lowest point since 1995.

    Kristie Puckett-Williams is the Deputy Director for Engagement and Mobilization at the ACLU of North Carolina. She’s happy to see population trends, but the state still has nearly 30,000 people behind bars. She wants society to provide better programs for those in need; people liked her before she went to jail and served probation for theft and drug charges.

    1 of 5
    – A Vigil for Liberty and Racial Justice

    Kristie Puckett Williams of the ACLU of North Carolina sits outside the North Carolina Executive Building in downtown Raleigh on Friday afternoon as part of the Dec. 16, 2022 Vigil for Freedom and Racial Justice part. Puckett Williams and other advocates are calling for justice, equity and a second chance for those incarcerated in North Carolina.

    Jonathan Grunke/WUNC

    2 of 5
    – A Vigil for Liberty and Racial Justice

    Tina Marshall holds a sign Friday afternoon in front of bushes outside the North Carolina State Administration Building in downtown Raleigh as part of the Dec. 16, 2022 Vigil for Freedom and Racial Justice. Marshall and other advocates calling for justice, equity and a second chance for people are being held in North Carolina.

    Jonathan Grunke/WUNC

    3 of 5
    – A Vigil for Liberty and Racial Justice

    People hold signs and sing along Friday afternoon outside the North Carolina Executive Building in downtown Raleigh as part of the Dec. 16, 2022 Vigil for Freedom and Racial Justice. Every day in December, advocates gather to call for justice, equity and a second chance for North Carolina’s incarcerated.

    Jonathan Grunke/WUNC

    4 of 5
    – A Vigil for Liberty and Racial Justice

    Kristie Puckett Williams of the North Carolina ACLU works on her computer outside the North Carolina Executive Building in downtown Raleigh on Friday afternoon, the 2022 Part of the Freedom and Racial Justice Vigil on December 16. Puckett Williams and other advocates are calling for justice, fairness and a second chance for North Carolina’s incarcerated.

    Jonathan Grunke/WUNC

    5 of 5
    – A Vigil for Liberty and Racial Justice

    Jaymond Herron posted a sign Friday afternoon on a pole outside the North Carolina State Administration Building in downtown Raleigh as part of the Dec. 16, 2022 Vigil for Freedom and Racial Justice. Herron and other advocates called for justice, equity and a second chance for people imprisoned in North Carolina.

    Jonathan Grunke/WUNC

    “I am a victim of domestic violence. I need financial aid. I am not getting financial aid, I am getting [Division of Social Services] Take my children. Puckett-Williams said: “I was offered to be locked up myself. If someone asked me, ‘So what do you need?’ I would tell them that if I got those things, incarceration would not be on the table.”

    In December, Puckett-Williams led a weeks-long protest at the governor’s mansion in downtown Raleigh. She advocated for various criminal justice reforms, but one of her greatest passions was improving the standard of living inside prisons.

    “Humans should be treated like human beings,” Puckett-Williams said. “Conditions inside North Carolina prisons and the prison system are inhumane. They are torture.”

    Corrections leadership said they recognize the need for more mental health services. The prison system is working with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Project 2025, which aims to reduce the annual suicide rate by 20 percent by 2025.

    2DwqU-average daily prison population-by-year.png

    NC Department of Public Safety

    /

    Annual average daily prison population. The average population is now at its lowest point since 1995.

    Lewis Peiper, director of behavioral health at the prison, said leadership was addressing the issue “head-on”. Most suicides were not flagged as inmates for self-harm risk assessment, he said. This suggests that prisoners who see mental health providers are less likely to commit suicide and that they do not reach all those who need these services. Prison staff encourage inmates to speak up when they are struggling, Peiper said.

    “Everything is being prepared,” Peiper said. “Let’s help each other out here.”

    In some corners of the North Carolina legislature, some lawmakers have begun to take notice. Sen. Natalie Murdoch, who represents parts of Durham County and introduced legislation in the last session, would expand access to a program that would allow early release for infirm inmates.

    “I think if we don’t think this person is a threat to their community, why are they still incarcerated?” Murdoch said.

    Janelle and Leroy.jpg

    Janelle Kase and Leroy Wentzel. Wentzel is on probation after his release from prison and lives in Pennsylvania with his daughter, Kase.

    Her initial legislation didn’t apply to many people, but she said it was a start.

    “Especially if you’re older and you have family members who say, you know, we’re happy to house our loved ones. They can still be monitored in a variety of ways,” Murdoch said.

    This exact scene plays out three days before Christmas.

    Leroy Wentzel, who turns 80 in March, pleaded guilty to killing his sister-in-law’s husband in 1995 and is serving a life sentence. His health problems got worse, and his daughter, Janelle Kase, who lives in Pennsylvania, began advocating for the parole board to release him. Late last year, the board agreed. On a wet and rainy December day, Wenzel came home with her daughter.

    “As I walked through the gate, I saw my daughter standing there, and she was already crying,” Wenzel said. “Then we grabbed each other and hugged and kissed. We still do that today. But what a feeling it was, man.”

    Advocates say they want to expand that release effort. Not only would it benefit those released, they said, but it would help ease problems caused by staffing shortages, including lack of access to mental health care.



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