May 4, 2014

Via E-Mail
The Honorable Members of the Board of Superisors
!ounty of "os #n$eles
%enneth Hahn Hall of #dministration &00 'est Temple Street
"os #n$eles, !alifornia (0012
)ear Honorable Members of the Board*
+ am ,ritin$ to oppose the options presented in the "os #n$eles !ounty -ail .lan-.hase 2
by Vanir !onstru/tion Mana$ement0 Based on my ,or1 as an MS' intern in the 2ails and
,hat + hae obsered there, + do not beliee that inestments in ne, 2ails ,ill improe
the treatment of inmates ,ith mental illness, redu/e re/idiism, or resole the proision
found in the )3- Memorandum of #$reement0
4or the last year, + hae interned at !alifornia 5e$ional )etention !enter 6!5)47, the
female /ounty 2ail in "yn,ood, !#, and e8perien/ed first-hand ho, inmates ,ith mental
illness are bein$ treated0 Throu$h personal obseration, multiple /onersations ,ith both
/ustody and )epartment of Mental Health 6)MH7 staff, and repeated /omplaints from the
,omen, it be/ame /lear that the fundamental ri$hts of the mentally ill inmates at !5)4
are bein$ re$ularly iolated0 #lthou$h no one /an deny the fa/ility that houses these
,omen is inade9uate, the physi/al fa/ility is a minor /on/ern /ompared to the abuse
and:or ne$le/t of these ,omen by mental health, medi/al, sheriff employees, that is in
dire/t opposition to the proisions in the )3- Memorandum of #$reement0
To start off ,ith, it must be understood that these ,omen are bein$ abused by
inade9uately trained Sherriff;s deputies0 'omen ,ho often /an;t read or ,rite, ,ith
seere and repeated trauma, multiple hospitali<ations, addi/tions, dia$noses, and a/ute
symptoms of mental illness, are bein$ /alled =,hores,> =retards,> =men,> and =din$s> to
name a fe, by Sheriff;s deputies0 They are 1ept in their /ell 2?-hours a day, and hae
/omplained of not bein$ let out for sho,ers, or bein$ 1ept in the sho,er for hours before
allo,in$ them to return to their /ell0 !lients hae /omplained of bein$ left hand/uffed to
the table for hours, and of deputies refusin$ their re9uest to use the restroom0 !lients of
mine, ,ho are in/ompetent to stand trial, are bein$ held in solitary /onfinement for petty
offen/es and barred from meetin$ ,ith their therapist fa/e to fa/e0 3ther /lients lose their
mattress ,hile on sui/ide ,at/h, and they hae under,ear and feminine hy$iene produ/ts
ne/essary to preent menstruatin$ on themseles ,ithheld from them0 )eputies denied
,omen a//ess to $roup therapy sessions, hae refused to $ie them /omplaint forms
,hen they as1 for them, and hae een refused to $ie them food0 This abuse and
mistreatment ,ill not /han$e by buildin$ a ne, fa/ility that is superised by the same
Sheriff;s department0
These ,omen are also unseen by oer,or1ed mental health staff0 Buildin$ a ne, fa/ility
,ill not ensure ade9uate therapy and /ounselin$ for the mentally ill inmates ,ho need
/are0 The ,omen are often bein$ seen on/e eery @-A ,ee1s, by often-times 2aded
/lini/ians ,ith minimal superision, oersi$ht, or 9uality assuran/e0 Many of my /lients
,ere neer let out for $roups, althou$h they reported ,aitin$ by the door and ,ain$
their hands at the deputies0 #nd, it is all too /ommon for ,omen in the module to be$ for
their /lini/ian ,hom they haen;t seen in ,ee1s0 'hat + obsered in my time at !5)4 is
heaily medi/ated ,omen ,ho are offered /ompletely inade9uate mental health seri/es,
seen for 10 minutes by /lini/ians ,ho are burdened ,ith heay /ase loads,
inappropriately len$thy /ase notes, and ,ith no formal treatment or dis/har$e plannin$0
'omen are basi/ally held in their /ells, heaily medi/ated, and proided minimal support
to essentially =ma1e sure they don;t die0>
4urther, these ,omen;s re9uests for basi/ medi/al treatment are often i$nored, fre9uently
be/ause of their mental status 6or the bias a$ainst them70 'omen ,ith horrible yeast
infe/tions, ,ho $o throu$h the proper pro/edures to as1 for medi/al /are, are either
i$nored, or seen ,ee1s later0 + ,as informed on numerous o//asions, by both /ustody and
)MH personnel, that medi/al staff 2ust =doesn;t ,ant to deal ,ith the mentally ill,> and
fre9uently ne$le/t their re9uests0 This is a problem they say they hae been tryin$ to
remedy for years ,ithout su//ess0
+ beliee, based on my year ,or1in$ in !5)4, that inade9uate /ompeten/y based
trainin$s, minimal superision, or any types of pro/ess $roups -- ,hi/h are essential
$ien the e8treme nature of the 2ail enironment -- has resulted in staff ,ho are 2aded,
repeatedly en$a$e in $ossip about inmates, and spea1 about inmates in dispara$in$ and
inappropriate ,ays0
Bnfortunately, these /ombined fa/tors hae /reated an inhumane and to8i/ enironment
that e8a/erbates symptoms of mental illness0 'omen are de/ompensatin$ at /risis leels,
and in ,ays that are almost e8/lusie to 2ail enironments0 Mentally ill, often times non-
iolent ,omen, 1ept in their /ells 2?-hours a day, abused and ne$le/ted, soon stop eatin$
or sho,erin$, or reert to playin$ ,ith bodily e8/rement or en$a$e iolent and:or
a$$ressie behaior, often /ompilin$ trash and refusin$ to /ome out of their /ells0
+nmates ,ith personality disorders, are /onsidered =annoyin$,> and hae been refused
admittan/e to the 4+. 64orensi/ +npatient Bnit7, and ie,ed as less needin$ of treatment
than a/utely psy/hoti/ inmates0 Sadly, many of these /lients en$a$e in serious self-harm,
su/h as /uttin$ and head-ban$in$0 3ne of my teena$e /lients 2ust re/ently made a ery
serious attempt at sui/ide and one day later ,as taunted by a sheriff;s deputy, ,ho
slammed her fin$ers in the door after she refused to moe them, /ausin$ serious in2ury0
'hat + hae seen ,ould be deeply dis/oura$in$ and disturbin$ to any mental health
professional ,ho ,ants to see her /lients re/eie humane, /ompetent /are0 +t is espe/ially
disturbin$ be/ause the issues + obsered hae been the sub2e/t of /riti/al findin$s by the
Bnited States )epartment of -usti/e in 1((C and ,ere supposed to be addressed throu$h
the 2002 Memorandum of #$reement bet,een )3- and "# !ounty, both of ,hi/h + hae
read /arefully0 #t least in !5)4, 2ails Mental Health and "#S) hae /ompletely failed to
abide by the M3# and address the problems )3- identified0
Bntil the institutional dynami/s themseles /han$e, inmates ,ith mental illness ,ill
/ontinue to suffer0 + see no li1elihood of that happenin$ een if the !ounty /onstru/ts a
ne, treatment 2ail, so lon$ as the same a$en/ies that hae failed to proide humane
superision and /are remain in /har$e of runnin$ it0 The only ,ay + /an see to
si$nifi/antly improe these /onditions is for the !ounty to put emphasis on preention,
diersion, and an enormous /ulture shift0 + ur$e the Board to reassess and loo1 at the
options proposed by e8perts in /orre/tional mental health0
+n /on/lusion, the treatment and superision of inmates ,ith mental illness, as is it
/urrently administered by )MH and Sherriff;s deputies, has failed, and the
implementation of a pro$ram of diersion into /ommunity superision, ,ith ,ell-
tar$eted treatment, and ade9uate a//ess to therapy and rehabilitation, is desperately
needed0 'ithout an effe/tie diersion pro$ram, people ,ith mentally illness ,ill
/ontinue to enter the /riminal 2usti/e system and return to so/iety far ,orse off0 These
,omen are simply denied ade9uate medi/al treatment, $ien inade9uate psy/hiatri/
treatment, abused by /ustody, and then pla/ed ba/1 on the streets ,ith no real dis/har$e
plannin$0
Than1 you 1indly for /onsiderin$ my remar1s00
Sin/erely,
%ristina 5onn9uist
MS' !andidate BS! S/hool of So/ial 'or1, May D14