OTTAWA - The federal prison ombudsman wants the Correctional Service to clearly spell out what it's doing to help the mentally ill behind bars.
Howard Sapers, the correctional investigator, asked the prison service today to provide updates on initiatives including treatment plans and the hiring of mental health professionals.
Sapers has slammed the prison service over the death of 19-year-old Ashley Smith, who choked herself with a strip of cloth at the Grand Valley prison in Kitchener, Ont.
He says the latest available figures show the number of inmate deaths by causes such as suicide, accident, homicide or overdose actually increased to 17 in 2008-09 from 10 the previous year.
In November, Sapers said there was an "immediate and troubling" shortfall in mental health-care services for offenders -- a problem that will only grow as more people are locked away.
Ten to 12 per cent of offenders entering the federal prison system have a significant mental problem.
"We are encouraged by the range of undertakings the service has committed to in regard to improving the quality of and timely access to mental health services," Sapers said in a letter to the service today.
But he recommended that the service closely monitor developments and report on progress to show whether its efforts are saving lives.
