Wayne County will have to guarantee jail inmates access to needed physical and mental health services under a new settlement with the federal government, the U.S. Justice Department announced Monday.
A federal investigation launched in 2018 found that the Wayne County Jail routinely failed to provide critical services for inmates with disabilities. Those failures included denying access to prescription medications and medical equipment, and not providing needed mental health services. The Justice Department also found that in 2016 and 2017, eight inmates died by suicide in just a little over a year.
The new settlement requires the county to develop “procedures to identify inmates who have disabilities when they arrive to the jail, and programs that will allow each inmate access to services no matter where they are assigned within the facility,” and provide access to needed physical and mental health services, including detox and treatment protocols for people with substance use disorder. The jail will also have to create a plan to administer prescribed medications, and make “robust revisions to the suicide prevention program.”
“Wayne County has a long and troubled history of providing inadequate services to inmates who have disabilities,” Detroit U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison said in a statement. “We recognize that Wayne County is transitioning inmates into a new facility. However, a new building does not ensure access to those vital services. This agreement addresses systemic issues that have prevented inmates who have disabilities from equal access to services, programs, and activities while at the Wayne County Jail. Wayne County has fully cooperated with our investigation and this settlement agreement demonstrates our shared commitment to improving services for inmates with disabilities at the Wayne County Jail.”
The settlement requires that Wayne County make regular compliance reports to the U.S. Attorney’s office, and will remain in effect until for three years “unless Wayne County demonstrates durable compliance."
“The health, safety, and welfare of all inmates in Wayne County’s custody is our top priority,” the Wayne County Corporation Counsel’s office said in a statement on Monday.
The statement continued: “Since the inception of the Department of Justice investigation in 2018, Wayne County has cooperated and worked collaboratively with the DOJ to put into place policies that ensure the highest standards of medical care to inmates are being met. Many of these polices have been implemented over the last several years and culminated into the agreement with the DOJ. This agreement is a testament to the County’s commitment to providing quality medical care to inmates. We look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with the DOJ and demonstrating our commitment by exceeding the standards that have been set in this agreement.”
