Detention and Rehabilitation Center Incarcerated Individual Services
Classification
Classification is a sorting out process that assigns incarcerated individuals to the appropriate custody level within the St. Mary's County Detention and Rehabilitation Center, under the proper degree of staff supervision. Classification also fosters enhanced staff/incarcerated individual communication and facilities program and service decisions in terms of the most likely benefit to individual incarcerated individuals. All incarcerated individuals are subject to the classification process in order to determine appropriate custody, security level, housing and program placement.
The classification process is individualized, dynamic and recognizes the potential of human beings to grow or regress both emotionally and socially. Classification is an on-going process that exists as a continuum for each incarcerated individual on an institutional life basis. For some incarcerated individuals, the progress may even extend to community placement.
Medical Services
Detention and Rehabilitation Center Medical services are provided in-house for incarcerated individuals through an existing contract with CONMED, Inc. This contract provides for a sick call up to five days per week. During sick call, incarcerated individuals are seen by a doctor who evaluates their medical condition and prescribes treatment as needed. Incarcerated individuals continue to receive medical care from external medical providers when necessary.
A legislative initiative passed by the Maryland Legislature now gives the Sheriff the authority to charge those incarcerated individuals who can afford it a nominal fee for medical services. This fee, which was set by the Board of County Commissioners at $4.00 per visit, in no way hinders an indigent incarcerated individual's ability or opportunity to obtain medical care. This fee helps recoup some of the funds expended on the incarcerated individual's behalf, reduces the number of frivolous medical complaints and reinforces the idea that incarcerated individuals remain responsible for themselves.
Some of the services performed within the facility include routing x-rays, specimen collection, and certain testing. In addition to the cost savings by providing these services on-site, additional monies are saved, as correctional officers are not required to transport these incarcerated individuals to the doctor or hospital.
The need to control these expenditures is even more significant due to the continuous rise in medical costs. The current health care problems facing the United States are magnified in Detention Centers. Incarcerated individuals are being sentenced to longer periods of incarceration. Medical issues common to the correctional environment such as Tuberculosis (TB), Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV) and Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) are becoming commonplace and must be addressed both medically and legally.
Mental Health Services
The Maryland Community Criminal Justice Treatment Program (MCCJTP), under the management of CONMED, Inc., began providing mental health services in the St. Mary's County Detention and Rehabilitation Center on February 1, 1998. The primary goal of the MCCJTP of St. Mary's County is to meet the needs of persons with serious mental illness who are incarcerated and to reduce the recidivism to state psychiatric hospitals, detention centers and homelessness.
Library
Under the direction of a Sheriff's Office Volunteer, the Detention and Rehabilitation Center Library provides recreational reading material, reference books, special interest books, and high school / GED materials to all incarcerated individuals. Additionally, correctional officers assist interested incarcerated individuals in obtaining legal books, and copies of court cases relevant to their situations.
The majority of reading material stocked in the Detention and Rehabilitation Center Library is donated at no cost to the taxpayer. The availability of these materials in particular has boosted incarcerated individual morale.