Protecting the Mental Health of our Inmates

Administrative segregation is a form of isolated custody for offenders deemed dangerous to other offenders, staff, or themselves. These inmates are kept in a cell for up to 23 hours a day, and are ineligible for programmatic activity, training, and visits of the nature experienced by inmates in general population. According to TDCJ, as of August 31, 2010, approximately six percent of offenders incarcerated in prison in Texas were held in administrative segregation.

Advocates around the nation speak to the potential destructive effects of long-term segregation on the mental health of inmates, and the public safety concerns related to releasing inmates directly from administrative segregation to parole or into the public. In 2008, more than 1,000 TDCJ inmates completed their sentences in administrative segregation and were released directly into the community, without first being returned to general population for additional rehabilitation.

As people of faith, we strive to uphold our commitment to a God who demands that we respect the dignity of all human beings. We must invest in addressing the mental health needs of prisoners in a way that effectively contributes to their rehabilitation and successful transition back into their communities. Proposed legislation in the 82nd Legislature would direct the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to create a yearly report to the Legislature on the use of administrative segregation in the Texas prison system, and to institute a plan to improve the nature of confinement in administrative segregation.