Prison unit in Carson City will focus on inmates’ mental health issues
CARSON CITY — The state Department of Corrections is establishing a designated mental health facility at Northern Nevada Correctional Center to provide coordinated treatment for inmates housed around the state, Director James Dzurenda said Tuesday.
Dzurenda told the state Board of Prison Commissioners, chaired by Gov. Brian Sandoval, that the goal is to concentrate services in one location and allow medical staff to tailor treatment to individual inmates.
The changes are being implemented in stages, Dzurenda said. The correctional center in Carson City will have an acute mental health unit for seriously mentally ill inmates. The facility also will have a transitional unit for inmates who have stabilized. Another transitional unit is being established at nearby Warm Springs Correctional Center.
Dzurenda said the purpose is to stabilize the mental health of inmates to allow them to be re-integrated into general prison populations before their release.
It’s unclear how many inmates suffer mental health problems, though a department spokeswoman said roughly 20 percent of those entering the system have some type of mental health issue.
The change also will make it easier for the department to hire and retain medical staff because they will be based in the state capital and be able to monitor the inmates under their care, Dzurenda said.
The department also is revamping its use of restrictive segregation to reflect guidelines from the U.S. Department of Justice, said Dzurenda, who was hired earlier this year by Sandoval following a series of high-profile incidents at Nevada prisons, including the fatal shooting of a handcuffed inmate in 2014.
Dzurenda said releasing inmates directly from segregation into society, as was done in the past, creates “a dangerous situation” for communities.
He said Nevada, through a technical assistance grant, is working with the Vera Institute of Justice to evaluate its use of segregation and recommend possible policy changes.
Some already are being implemented, Dzurenda said. At Ely State Prison — Nevada’s only maximum-security penitentiary — inmates in “closed custody” units were kept in their cells 22 hours a day. Dzurenda said the time inmates can spend outside their cells daily has been increased from two hours to five hours, with structured activities during the period.
“How do you respond to somebody who would say you’re being soft on these guys?” Sandoval asked.
Dzurenda said most offenders will be released eventually, and the agency’s goal is to try to change behaviors before they are released. Keeping them locked up in segregation, he said, is “actually going to be more detrimental to our communities.”
Nevada houses 13,742 inmates, a population higher than anticipated.
Contact Sandra Chereb at schereb@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-3821. Follow @SandraChereb on Twitter.
