Have New York City jails met their obligations to the mentally ill?
Crains New York
A report released Monday by the New York City Independent Budget Office found that city spending on mental health services has not kept pace with the...
Most Weapons Found in NYC Jails are Homemade, Report Shows
Corrections One
The majority of weapons found in NYC jails last year were inmate-made as found in a new report from the Board of Correction. However, the official view is at odds with this finding as there is a push to change city rules restricting inmate visits, which advocates are at odds with."This report calls into question the administration's focus on visitors as the source of weapons," said Jennifer Parish, Director of Criminal Justice Advocacy, at MHP.Prisoner advocates slam plan to create Enhanced Supervision Unit for Rikers’ most dangerous inmates
NY Daily News
A group of advocates blasted a plan Wednesday that would create a new supersecure unit for Rikers Island's 250 most dangerous prisoners. The planned Enhanced Supervision Unit would allow prisoners to be kept in cells for 17 hours a day, among other restrictions.New York City to overhaul mental health care for inmates
MSNBC
Jennifer Parish, the director of MHP discusses proposed shifts away from responding to inmates who have mental health needs solely through the criminal justice system.New York City Plans Focus on Mental Health in Justice System
NY Times
In an effort to reduce the growing number of inmates with mental health and substance abuse problems in New York City’s jails, the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio announced plans on Monday to significantly expand public health services at almost every step of the criminal justice process.Mental Health And The Prison System
NY State of Politics
Susan Goodwillie, a social worker at MHP, and Terry Hubbard, the mother of an inmate dealing with mental illness, joined us to discuss conditions of the US prison system following a recently released New York Times article on Riker's.Young Teens Will No Longer Be Locked In Solitary On Rikers
Gothamist
In July, the State Advisory Board of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights held a briefing on the use of solitary confinement for juveniles to determine whether it violated the rights of youth of color and mentally ill youth. According to the Department, there are currently 51 adolescents in solitary.Johnny Perez, now an adult working as the safe reentry coordinator for the Urban Justice Center, hails this as a positive first step. "There's still work to do," he added, "especially since we know that the brain is not developed until the age of 25. Ultimately we need to expand the conversation to include kids up to 25-year-olds and exclude all 16- to 25-year-olds from solitary confinement altogether." Based on his own experiences with the culture of violence on the island, Perez also advocates for removing all 16- to 21-year-olds from Rikers altogether.WINGS #22-14 Podcast: Voices from the Box: A Call to End the Torture of Isolated Confinement
Community Radio
Megan Crowe-Rothstein, Director of Social Work at MHP speaks on the podcast series Wings, which champions voices against isolated confinement in US prisons.US justice system letting slip those behind death of mentally ill prisoner
Press TV covers the lawsuit and call for justice after the wrongful death of 39 year old, mentally ill and diabetic Bradley Ballard an inmate at Riker's Island jail.
