Statement of Coalition for Better Treatment
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON-Releasing sick prisoners into the community without proper treatment or opportunities to continue treatment presents a major threat to public health and demonstrates why Congress must investigate the medical care crisis in the country's correctional systems, a coalition including the American Civil Liberties Union said today.
The coalition pointed to a federal study released today that highlights the dismal health status of confined individuals and the threat they pose to outside populations. The new study, The Health Status of Soon-To-Be-Released Inmates: A Report to Congress, was produced by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care and sponsored by the National Institute of Justice. The double volume document includes recommendations for care and promotes the adoption of nationally accepted clinical guidelines for treatment of prisoners.
Growing numbers of incarcerated individuals suffer disproportionately from tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, mental illness, substance addiction and many chronic diseases. Corrections departments are overwhelmed by the high cost of providing medical care and face serious challenges to providing treatment to patients. Untreated patients jeopardize the health and safety of prison and jail staff, institution visitors, prisoners and the communities to which they return.
According to the report, inmates released from prison or jail comprised 35 percent of the U.S. population infected with tuberculosis in 1996 and accounted for 17 percent of the AIDS infected population. Nearly 330,000 imprisoned individuals tested positive for Hepatitis C in 1997 and approximately 1.4 million Hepatitis C infected individuals left prison or jail in 1996.
In Michigan last week, the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit against the state alleging that some prisoners infected with Hepatitis C were not notified of their status or educated on how to prevent disease. Last year, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that numerous prisoners in New Jersey were released into the community never knowing they had been diagnosed with Hepatitis C. Infected persons can unwittingly spread the disease to loved ones and sexual partners.
The coalition applauds the recent pledge by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and other Republican leaders to improve racial minorities' access to medical care. More than one million Hispanic and African American men and women live behind bars in the United States on any given day, accounting for half the imprisoned population. Republican efforts to reduce inequalities in care should include initiatives to provide better treatment to prisoners. Conducting hearings on today's report would be an important first step for Congress.
The new report to Congress is online at http://www.ncchc.org/pubs_stbr.vol1.html and http://www.ncchc.org/pubs_stbr.html.
Members of the Coalition for Better Treatment include:
The Aleph Institute
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
American Civil Liberties Union
American Friends Service Committee
American Public Health Association
California Prison Focus
Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice
CURE (Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants)
Families Against Mandatory Minimums
Florida Justice Institute
Human Rights Watch
John Howard Association
Justice Policy Institute
Legal Research Services
Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems
National Council of La Raza
National Health Care for the Homeless Council
New York City Legal Aid Society
Open Society Policy Center
Penal Reform International
Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project
Prisoner Legal Services of New York
Prison Law Office
Public Justice Center
Chase Riveland, former Secretary of the Washington Department of Corrections and former Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Corrections
The Sentencing Project
Southern Center for Human Rights
Stop Prisoner Rape
Youth Law Center