Opinion
No. 2:-90-cv-0520-LKK-JFM (PC).
November 18, 2010
ORDER
Pursuant to an order of this court filed April 14, 2010, the special master has filed a report and recommendations on defendants' review of their suicide prevention policies, practices and procedures. By order filed October 5, 2010, the parties were granted a period of thirty days in which to file and serve responses to the special master's report and recommendations and fifteen days thereafter in which to reply to any responses filed. On November 4, 2010, defendants filed an objection to one of the special master's recommendations. Plaintiffs interposed no objections to any of the recommendations. The time for plaintiffs to reply to defendants' objection runs through November 19, 2010.
The special master's report was filed on September 27, 2010.
As the court noted in the April 14, 2010 order, defendants must "take all steps necessary to reduce both the inmate suicide rate and the inadequacies in assessment, treatment and intervention found in an unacceptably high percentage of completed suicides." Order filed April 14, 2010, at 6-7. In his September 27, 2010 report, the special master finds, inter alia, that
the data for 2010 so far is not showing improvement in suicide prevention. . . . The need for vigilance in solving this problem continues. The goal is now to encourage the focus of resources on the implementation of these various new strategies and any needed refinement thereof, as may become apparent in the review process. The sooner this process is begun, the better.
Special Master's Report on Defendants' Review of Suicide Prevention Policies, Practices, and Procedures, filed September 27, 2010, at 32. To that end, the special master's first, second, third and fifth recommendations, to which no objections have been interposed, will be adopted in full and made orders of this court. The special master's fourth recommendation, to which defendants have objected, will be addressed in a subsequent order.
In accordance with the above and good cause appearing, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. Recommendations 1, 2, 3, and 5 of the Special Master's Report on Defendants' Review of Suicide Prevention, Policies, Practices, and Procedures, filed September 27, 2010, are adopted in full.
2. Defendants' proposed Program Guide revisions and suicide prevention strategies presented in their Report of August 25, 2010 shall be implemented forthwith.
3. Defendants shall consult with the special master's experts regarding the use of, and clinical practices within, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) outpatient housing units (OHUs), and any related proposed changes to theColeman Program Guide concerning OHUs.
4. Not later than sixty days from the date of this order defendants shall submit to the special master their proposal for improvement of clinical competency levels of current CDCR clinicians with administration of the suicide risk evaluation.
5. Defendants shall implement the SharePoint website system and the system-generated alert for high acute suicide risk inmates on MHTS.net as soon as possible, and not later than sixty days from the date of this order conduct a demonstration of said systems for the special master and/or his designated staff at a mutually convenient time.
6. The special master's fourth recommendation, concerning submission of a plan to furnish suicide resistant beds in their mental health crisis bed units, shall be deemed submitted at the conclusion of the time for filing a reply to defendants' objection to this recommendation and shall be addressed by subsequent order.
DATED: November 17, 2010.