We found that CSC had reduced its use of segregation, so the number of placements in segregation had decreased over the three years that we looked at. Under the CCRA segregation legislation, there are very strict requirements to segregate. Primarily, it deals with the safety of the offender or the safety of others.
We focused on the segregation of offenders identified with mental health issues, following the Ashley Smith inquiry, where CSC had committed to restrict its use of segregation for those with mental health issues. In our audit, we took a sample of women offenders identified with serious mental health issues, and we found that a significant portion of them had been segregated, some of them for longer than 15 days.
In response to that, CSC has updated its policy to prohibit the segregation of women offenders with serious mental health issues and significant impairment.