{"id":99233,"date":"2025-11-13T08:19:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T13:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=99233"},"modified":"2025-11-13T08:19:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T13:19:14","slug":"federal-prison-service-ill-equipped-for-long-term-mental-health-care-watchdog-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/13\/federal-prison-service-ill-equipped-for-long-term-mental-health-care-watchdog-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal prison service &#8216;ill-equipped&#8217; for long-term mental health care: watchdog"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Jim Bronskill Weak policies, insufficient training and a lack of specialized treatment are hindering the Correctional Service of Canada&#8217;s efforts to deliver mental health care, the federal prison ombudsman says in his latest annual report. Correctional investigator Ivan Zinger says it&#8217;s &#8220;abundantly clear&#8221; the prison service is fundamentally ill-equipped to provide long-term mental health care to people experiencing acute psychiatric distress, suicidal thoughts or chronic self-injury. In cases involving such serious mental illnesses, transfers to external, secure, community-based psychiatric hospitals are necessary, Zinger says in the report. The Correctional Service of Canada routinely transfers individuals requiring complex physical care \u2014 such as chemotherapy or heart surgery \u2014 to external hospitals, Zinger notes. &#8220;It would be unthinkable to attempt such procedures in-house,&#8221; he writes. &#8220;Yet, when it comes to mental&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F11%2F13%2Ffederal-prison-service-ill-equipped-for-long-term-mental-health-care-watchdog-2%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jim Bronskill Weak policies, insufficient training and a lack of specialized treatment are hindering the Correctional Service of Canada&#8217;s efforts to deliver mental health care, the federal prison ombudsman says in his latest annual report. Correctional investigator Ivan Zinger says it&#8217;s &#8220;abundantly clear&#8221; the prison service is fundamentally ill-equipped to provide long-term mental health care to people experiencing acute psychiatric distress, suicidal thoughts or chronic self-injury. In cases involving such serious mental illnesses, transfers to external, secure, community-based psychiatric hospitals are necessary, Zinger says in the report. The Correctional Service of Canada routinely transfers individuals requiring complex physical care \u2014 such as chemotherapy or heart surgery \u2014 to external hospitals, Zinger notes. &#8220;It would be unthinkable to attempt such procedures in-house,&#8221; he writes. &#8220;Yet, when it comes to mental... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F11%2F13%2Ffederal-prison-service-ill-equipped-for-long-term-mental-health-care-watchdog-2%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Federal prison service &#039;ill-equipped&#039; for long-term mental health care: watchdog - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/13\/federal-prison-service-ill-equipped-for-long-term-mental-health-care-watchdog-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Federal prison service &#039;ill-equipped&#039; for long-term mental health care: watchdog - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jim Bronskill Weak policies, insufficient training and a lack of specialized treatment are hindering the Correctional Service of Canada&#8217;s efforts to deliver mental health care, the federal prison ombudsman says in his latest annual report. Correctional investigator Ivan Zinger says it&#8217;s &#8220;abundantly clear&#8221; the prison service is fundamentally ill-equipped to provide long-term mental health care to people experiencing acute psychiatric distress, suicidal thoughts or chronic self-injury. In cases involving such serious mental illnesses, transfers to external, secure, community-based psychiatric hospitals are necessary, Zinger says in the report. The Correctional Service of Canada routinely transfers individuals requiring complex physical care \u2014 such as chemotherapy or heart surgery \u2014 to external hospitals, Zinger notes. &#8220;It would be unthinkable to attempt such procedures in-house,&#8221; he writes. &#8220;Yet, when it comes to mental\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/13\/federal-prison-service-ill-equipped-for-long-term-mental-health-care-watchdog-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-13T13:19:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/13\\\/federal-prison-service-ill-equipped-for-long-term-mental-health-care-watchdog-2\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/13\\\/federal-prison-service-ill-equipped-for-long-term-mental-health-care-watchdog-2\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Federal prison service &#8216;ill-equipped&#8217; 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