Long Creek juvenile center’s mental health protocols questioned after suicide
'Every red flag should have gone up' in the case of a suicidal transgender teen, national experts say. So far, the state-run facility has shed no light.
The Mentally Ill, Behind Bars
Mayor Bill de Blasio and his new correction commissioner, Joseph Ponte, have inherited a city jail system in which nearly 40 percent of the 12,000 inmates have mental illnesses — up from about a quarter just seven years ago. Yet despite the stark shift, the system has not been redesigned to serve the complex needs of inmates with mental illnesses.
Too many people incarcerated in ‘debtors prison,’ de facto mental health wards
Now that lawmakers and Gov. Paul LePage have found a short-term fix to the county jails funding problems, they can turn their attention to the underlying cause. Maine, like other states, has jails that are over capacity, not because crime is on the rise, but because too many people are incarcerated for too long.
At state-run Riverview, danger and dysfunction pervasive
A Telegram investigation of the Augusta facility unearths troubling evidence of a culture of abuse and a staff ill-equipped to cope with the mentally ill.
Riverview patient faces charges after rampage
Charles D. Miles is accused of terrorizing and criminal mischief causing $4,370 in damage at the psychiatric hospital.
Riverview discharges man to serve prison sentence
Treatment providers and others testify that Michael James has a personality disorder and is not mentally ill.
New state prison mental health center met with optimism
WARREN, Maine — Last spring, Maine Corrections Commissioner Joseph Ponte said that during a Cabinet meeting, Gov. Paul LePage leaned over and said to him that more beds for the seriously mentally ill were needed.
Increased violence at Maine’s psych hospital prompts reform
AUGUSTA, Maine — Of the 92 people in state custody who were found “not criminally responsible” for crimes, 18 have been charged with at least one count of murder.
Maine’s mentally ill more likely to be in prison than hospital
Maine lawmakers last week signed off on a plan that will allow the state to transfer certain patients from Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta, one of Maine’s two state-run psychiatric hospitals, to an expanded, 32-bed mental health unit at Maine State Prison in Warren.
Inmate hangs himself at Aroostook County Jail in Houlton
HOULTON, Maine — Maine State Police are investigating what they said Monday was the early morning suicide of an inmate at the Aroostook County Jail.
Report finds deficiencies in health care services for Maine inmates
AUGUSTA, Maine — Some prisoners at Maine’s correctional facilities are going without medication and are not getting timely treatment, according to a report presented to lawmakers Friday.
Maine solitary confinement bill stalls
House legislators prefer a policy review over a plan to change the treatment of mentally ill prisoners.