Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Moses.

Mental Health First Aid

The standing committee is very concerned about the impacts that inmate mental health problems pose with respect to the safety and well-being of both staff and inmates in correctional facilities. If inmates are not adequately assessed in a timely manner by qualified staff, they may be at risk to harm themselves and others. Mental health problems, left untreated, may also negatively impact an inmate’s chances for successful rehabilitation.

The standing committee questioned the deputy minister about the challenges posed by dealing with inmates’ mental health issues. The deputy minister pointed out that ideally an inmate’s mental health problems should be addressed by the health and social services system and that appropriate referrals depend on being able to assess an inmate’s mental health. For this reason, the department’s action plan focuses on providing Mental Health First Aid training to corrections staff. In addition to Mental Health First Aid training, the majority of the actions planned by the department involve establishing a mental health services working group tasked with conducting a review of the department’s capacity to assess the mental health needs of inmates.

Given the number of inmates with potential mental health issues and the relative scarcity of trained psychologists and mental health practitioners, the standing committee is concerned that the department may be relying too heavily on Mental Health First Aid as the primary means for assessing an inmate’s need for mental health services. There are obvious risks associated with relying on laypersons to conduct Mental Health First Aid assessments, which include the risk that inmates who are in urgent need of care may be overlooked or under-evaluated.

The department does not anticipate completing an assessment of its needs for additional psychologists and other trained practitioners until fall 2015. The standing committee encourages the department to fast track its assessment and seek additional resources from the Legislative Assembly if they are required.

Reintegration Coordination

The standing committee is concerned by how little the

department is doing to prepare inmates for their release and transition back into the communities. As the OAG’s report reveals, the gaps in this area are significant, with some inmates receiving only appropriate clothing and transportation back to their place of residence or conviction.

The standing committee acknowledges the extra care taken by some case managers to provide additional assistance to help inmates with their release, but agrees with the Auditor General’s observation that in the absence of sufficient guidance to support release planning for inmates, the extent of release planning depends on the individual case manager.

In addition to the actions identified in the department’s action plan regarding inmate release planning, the standing committee encourages the department to consider establishing a position within the corrections service tasked specifically with coordinating inmate releases. This would help to ensure that inmates are given the greatest possible assistance in successfully returning to their communities.

Recommendation 7

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Department of Justice develop better plans for inmate release and reintegration, including examining the merits of having a dedicated reintegration coordinator.

Facility Management

Key Findings of the Auditor General

The Auditor General’s key findings can be summarized as follows:

OVERALL FINDING:

The Department of Justice has not adequately met key requirements for its management of correctional facilities.

Although the department has developed plans to meet current and future needs in facilities, which include replacing the Fort Smith Correction Complex (female unit) in 2017-18, it does not have sufficient plans in place to mitigate some significant safety and security concerns at this facility where female inmates will continue to be housed in the meantime.

Concerns include lack of space for medical clearance of inmates and the housing of inmates in a facility with doors that do not lock.

The department did not adequately monitor whether management at the North Slave and Fort Smith (male unit) facilities were complying with selected safety and security requirements in areas such as managing inmates in segregation, controlling contraband and conducting fire and health inspections to ensure that facilities are safe.

In many cases, management did not follow requirements in these areas, which are intended to ensure that inmates are housed in a safe and secure environment. For example, some inmates were held in segregation without the required approvals by wardens.

Required daily and weekly reviews to determine whether it is appropriate for inmates to remain in segregation were not always done.

Key Recommendations of the Auditor General

With respect to facility management, the Auditor General made the following recommendations. (Note that the numbers in brackets signify the paragraph number of the recommendation in the OAG’s report.):

1. (Paragraph 78) The Department of Justice should:

2. undertake an assessment of actions to mitigate risks resulting from each of the critical deficiencies in the current Fort Smith Correctional Complex (female unit) to ensure all safety risks are sufficiently mitigated; and

3. establish a regular monitoring regime and report on safety risks and efforts undertaken by facility management to mitigate these risks to ensure the safety and security of inmates and staff until the new facility becomes operational.

4. (Paragraph 88) The Department of Justice should:

5. develop guidance on dynamic supervision for all correctional staff; and

6. actively and systematically monitor risks associated with housing inmates of varying security levels together, including remanded and sentenced inmates, to assess whether it is ensuring inmates’ safety and security under the Corrections Act.

7. (Paragraph 99) The Department of Justice should analyze trends related to contraband, including types of contraband and how it enters the facilities.

8. (Paragraph 100) The Department of Justice should exercise oversight of facility management to ensure compliance with its policies, directives and operating procedures for inmate surveillance and segregation, searches of inmates and visitors, and searches of cells and common areas.

9. (Paragraph 110) The Department of Justice should ensure that fire inspections are conducted annually and that emergency evacuation drills are conducted quarterly, as required. It should document these drills and take any corrective actions necessary.

10. (Paragraph 121) The Department of Justice should evaluate its current staffing approach for correctional facilities to ensure it has the number and types of staff needed to meet its core obligations under the Corrections Act.

11. (Paragraph 129) The Department of Justice should determine an acceptable level of overtime for its facilities and establish a mechanism to regularly monitor overtime usage in correctional facilities. It should also use the information it gathers to better manage overtime to help achieve acceptable overtime levels.

12. (Paragraph 132) The Department of Justice should develop and use an effective tracking system to ensure that all correctional staff members receive the required training.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to pass the reading of the report to my colleague Mr. Nadli.