The Agency of Human Services has agreed to pay $35,000 to settle a disability-based discrimination charge filed by a man who claimed he was jailed instead of being placed in a court-ordered psychiatric bed.
Randall Corkins, who was experiencing a mental health crisis, said he was “subjected to segregation, uses of force and pepper spray, and sustained injuries because his disoriented state prevented him from complying with commands, all while not receiving the level of care that would have been provided in a hospital setting.” The allegations were made in a Vermont Human Rights Commission complaint filed for Corkins by Disability Rights Vermont, a federally mandated advocacy system
After spending a week in prison, Corkins was eventually placed in a psychiatric bed, a news release from Disability Rights Vermont said.
In addition to the $35,000 payment, the Agency of Human Services is required “to institute new policies and procedures to protect the rights of people with disabilities ordered to inpatient evaluation but who are instead placed in prison,” the release said. The Agency did not admit liability for the incident in the settlement.
The settlement also requires the Department of Corrections to use best efforts to avoid the use of force against patients held in prison.
“If force is used against people in Mr. Corkins’ situation in non-emergent situations, the Department of Corrections is required to report such uses of force to DRVT within four business days, and must convene a team, including representatives from the Department of Mental Health, within two weeks of such use of force to review the use of force and to consider alternatives,” the release said.
DRVT said mentally ill patients are sometimes placed in prison because AHS has not maintained enough beds to provide inpatient psychiatric evaluation for everyone ordered into them by a court.
“DRVT continues to advocate for the immediate allocation of resources to fulfill capacity and assure that no person with a disability be unnecessarily secluded, restrained or harmed simply because the State of Vermont continues to fail to provide appropriate placements for people held in State’s custody,” the release said..
