Lawyers are asking a federal judge to hold the state of Illinois in contempt over the way it deals with mental illness in prisons.
The federal courts already ruled Illinois鈥� care for inmates with mental illness falls below the minimum requirements of the U.S. Constitution.
Harold Hirshman is one of the lawyers representing a class of inmates, and said the state is failing to comply with .
鈥淚 think it would be a good thing if the public knew more about the sad situation where a federal judge tells an agency to do something, and they just don鈥檛 do it,鈥� Hirshman said Tuesday in a telephone interview.
The Illinois Department of Corrections already , and has built and re-purposed facilities to with mental illness.
But Hirshman said staff shortages are still a huge problem. He says the department should have been doing more to enforce its contract with Wexford, the private company hired to run health care in the prisons.
鈥淚t鈥檚 remarkable when you have a contract with somebody 鈥� and they鈥檝e never fulfilled the contract, that you keep letting them have the job,鈥� Hirshman said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine somebody running their home like that.鈥�
Hirshman said he plans to ask the judge to order the Department of Corrections to spend more money recruiting and retaining mental health workers.
He said Illinois is at least 75 people short of the number mental health professionals needed to comply with court orders.
The Illinois Department of Corrections did not respond to a request for comment.
Update | Nov. 20, 2019:A day after this story was published, the Illinois Department of Corrections emailed a statement.
鈥淢ental health treatment is a priority for this administration and IDOC is committed to ensuring incarcerated individuals receive treatment that supports their wellbeing, rehabilitation and reentry into society,鈥� spokeswoman Lindsey Hess wrote. 鈥淚DOC has procedures in place to protect prisoners with mental illness from harm and has committed to achieving staffing levels that meet and exceed the minimal level of constitutional care.鈥�
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