Good morning, Madam Chair and honourable members of the committee. I'm very pleased to have the opportunity to speak to you today about the ways in which the Correctional Service of Canada has undertaken a multifaceted approach to suicide prevention.
CSC employs over 19,000 employees across the country in 57 institutions, 16 community correctional centres, and 84 parole offices to keep our citizens safe. On an average day, we're responsible for over 13,000 federally incarcerated inmates and 8,700 offenders in the community.
In accordance with the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, CSC provides inmates with essential health care, including reasonable access to non-essential mental health care that will contribute to the rehabilitation and successful reintegration into the community.
Improving our capacities to address the mental health needs of offenders is a key priority for CSC. As part of our overall mental health strategy, which was approved in 2004, CSC's approach to suicide prevention includes staff training and education, suicide prevention information for inmates, screening, assessment, monitoring, treatment, and reviews. I'll just briefly expand on a few of these.
CSC front-line staff are provided with initial and ongoing suicide prevention training in order to help them recognize and intervene appropriately for offenders at risk for suicide. In addition, we provide suicide prevention information and reference materials to inmates, which includes access to the inmate suicide awareness and prevention workshop. This workshop assists inmates in recognizing the signs and symptoms of suicide and promotes the services and supports available to them.
Moreover, CSC has a comprehensive screening process to identify inmates at risk for suicide. This includes, at intake, five separate screening processes to identify those who are at an elevated rate. It includes an initial screening while offenders are still in provincial custody, screening within 24 hours, a preliminary nursing assessment within 24 hours, a comprehensive mental health screening within 14 days, and a more comprehensive nursing screening within 14 days.
CSC is also embedded in policy based on best practices, such as the requirement to formally screen any time there's a significant change in the offender's status, such as transfer to a new institution or admission into segregation. Inmates identified at risk for suicide are referred to a mental health professional for a more indepth assessment. If a mental health professional is not immediately available, the inmate is monitored in person until a mental health professional can assess the level of risk and appropriate interventions.
Based on best practice literature, CSC has standardized monitoring in communication protocols, while still allowing for appropriate clinical judgment. This helps support an interdisciplinary approach to the management and intervention of inmates at risk for suicide.
Inmates identified at risk are provided with treatment appropriate to their level of need. This could include what's commonly referred to as outpatient treatment in the community, where they receive services and treatment from a mental health professional in their institution. Or it could include in-patient treatment at one of CSC's five treatment centres. The service has five treatment centres, which are all independently accredited health care facilities for the treatment of our most acutely ill inmates. We also have a partnership with Institut Philippe-Pinel, a psychiatric in-patient facility in Quebec.
Finally, CSC investigates the circumstances surrounding all inmate suicides in order to learn and help prevent further suicides in the future.
Recognizing that more needs to be done, in 2008 CSC joined with other provincial and territorial correctional jurisdictions to collaborate in the area of mental health. Mandated to develop a mental health strategy for corrections in Canada, one of the key areas of focus for this group includes reviews and best practice recommendations to prevent suicide and self-injury in correctional environments.
In closing, CSC recognizes that even one inmate suicide is too many. As an organization, we are continuously looking to enhance our prevention and intervention strategies to respond to the issue of inmate suicides through the integration of best practices, collaborative partnerships, evidence-based interventions, and investigations into all incidents.
Thank you very much.