By C1 Staff
COLUMBIA — The South Carolina Department of Corrections announced Thursday in a written statement that it had reached an agreement with the Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities group.
The Post and Courier reports that the agreement is SCDC’s response to a 2005 lawsuit that sought to improve the way mentally ill inmates are treated in South Carolina’s prison system.
The agreement calls for modifications of SCDC’s security policies and procedures, and developing a more appropriate staff culture and training curriculum.
The budget plan anticipates that legislature will provide money for it to increase SCDC’s “ability to provide mental health care.”
SCDC cares for an estimated 3,500 inmates who have severe mental illnesses.