Prisons Failing Mentally Ill, Especially Women: Federal Ombudsman

Prisons Failing Mentally Ill, Especially Women: Federal Ombudsman
A corrections officer opens the door to a cell in the segregation unit at the Fraser Valley Institution for Women in Abbotsford, B.C., during a media tour on Oct. 26, 2017. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck
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OTTAWA—Canada’s prison service must find alternatives to locking up inmates, especially women, with serious mental illness, says the federal correctional ombudsman.

The Correctional Service of Canada needs to create more agreements with community providers that would allow for the transfer and placement of offenders struggling with severe mental issues in outside psychiatric facilities, correctional investigator Ivan Zinger said Oct. 31.