Â鶹ŮÓÅ

Efforts by Washington state health officials to shorten the time mentally ill people wait in jails for competency services are failing to keep up with a growing demand and urgent measures are needed to deal with the backlogs, according to a court-ordered monitor. U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman issued a permanent injunction in April, ordering the Washington Department of Social and Health Services to cut the wait times to seven days, saying that holding mentally ill people in jails for months while awaiting competency services is unconstitutional. (Belisle, 8/23)

In New Mexico, many low-risk inmates were moved out of solitary. The men still housed in isolation can now earn their way out in nine months with good behavior. That's still more time in solitary than most reform advocates and most mental health experts support, but not so long ago, New Mexico's solitary unit was packed with inmates who were thrown into cells "and then we really had no clear cut way to get 'em outta there," says Gregg Marcantel, head of New Mexico's prison system. He says when he came in as corrections secretary four years ago, that heavy reliance on solitary had been unquestioned for decades. (Haverty, 8/24)

When Craig Roberts first heard about starting a program designed to keep non-violent pregnant female inmates with their babies, he admits he was skeptical. However, after the associate warden of programs at the Lakin Correctional Center [in West Virginia] saw the bond the first mother in the program had with her baby, everything changed. (Lannom, 8/22)