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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Feds OK plan to treat inmates

By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer

A state plan to improve treatment of mentally ill prisoners at O'ahu Community Correctional Center has been approved by federal officials who have harshly criticized the level and quality of treatment in the past, according to state Attorney General Mark Bennett.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the state yesterday, along with a proposed settlement that gives the state three and a half years to complete improvements to mental health care at the prison.

OCCC is the state's largest correctional facility and is used to house pre-trial defendants, inmates serving short-term periods of incarceration and convicts being processed for release back into the community.

The facility has repeatedly been the subject of federal complaints about substandard treatment of inmates and was under federal court oversight from 1985 to 1999 because of poor prison conditions, including inadequate mental health services.

"We've been working for quite some time to address issues and an agreement was finalized last week," Bennett said yesterday.

His comments came after the U.S. attorney's office here filed a lawsuit alleging "constitutionally deficient mental health care for detainees at OCCC."

The settlement agreement was not part of the legal papers made available to the public yesterday, although officials at the U.S. attorney's office acknowledged that the agreement was signed and filed with the court.

Inquiries were directed to officials of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department in Washington who were not available for comment yesterday afternoon.

Bennett stressed that the settlement is not a "consent decree" calling for supervision of improvements at OCCC by the courts.

An independent "monitor," yet to be selected, will provide oversight of state compliance with the terms of the agreement, Bennett said.

The arrangement is similar to one reached by the state with federal officials critical of conditions at the Hawai'i Youth Correctional Facility, Bennett said.

Justice Department investigators notified the state in 2005 of substandard treatment of mentally ill inmates at OCCC.

In 2007, federal authorities warned that a lawsuit would be filed within months if improvements were not made at the Kalihi prison.

The federal authorities were particularly critical of the OCCC past practice of isolating inmates without access to staff or mental health experts, a process called "therapeutic lockdown."

Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com.