Correctional Service of Canada has improved its training and has committed to training staff up and down the organization in terms of mental health awareness and intervention. They've done a good job of doing that.
I have some quibbles about the model of the training and the frequency of the training, but at a high level I think they're to be commended for putting the time, energy, and resources into increased training. The problem is that the training hasn't necessarily resulted in some of the gains we were hoping for. We still see an overrepresentation of people with known mental health issues being held inside segregation cells, not getting access to programs, being held at higher rather than lower security levels, and often receiving more disciplinary infractions.
For some of these people it's not that they are suffering from an acute psychiatric illness, but they may be dealing with afflictions caused by traumatic brain injury or FASD or other mental health issues that make it difficult for them to survive inside a penitentiary and to follow rules. They may become vulnerable to other offenders and they may get into conflict with other offenders. That gets into the cycle of disciplinary infractions, segregation use, etc.
The training is good, but we need to see practice as well.