Institutions Plead for Action While Inmates Suffer
Lawyers for mentally ill prisoners will ask a federal judge Monday to force California to take drastic action to stem a staff exodus from the state's mental hospitals that has jeopardized patient safety and left psychotic inmates to languish in jails and prisons without proper treatment.
In February, U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton ordered the state Department of Mental Health to formulate a plan to reverse a staff exodus in recent months from the state's beleaguered hospitals. The staff departures occurred after the court ordered raises for prison mental-health staff that made prison jobs more attractive than those at hospitals. LEE ROMNEY AND SCOTT GOLD in the Los Angeles Times
In February, U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton ordered the state Department of Mental Health to formulate a plan to reverse a staff exodus in recent months from the state's beleaguered hospitals. The staff departures occurred after the court ordered raises for prison mental-health staff that made prison jobs more attractive than those at hospitals. LEE ROMNEY AND SCOTT GOLD in the Los Angeles Times