Justice Department Secures Agreement with Cumberland County Addressing Mental Health Care, Suicide Prevention and Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opiate Withdrawal at the Cumberland County Jail

<p>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<br &sol;>&NewLine; Wednesday&comma; May 17&comma; 2023<br &sol;>&NewLine; Justice Department Secures Agreement with Cumberland County Addressing Mental Health Care&comma; Suicide Prevention and Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opiate Withdrawal at the Cumberland County Jail<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mh-content-ad"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js&quest;client&equals;ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; crossorigin&equals;"anonymous"><&sol;script>&NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle"&NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;"&NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article"&NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid"&NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"1081854981"><&sol;ins>&NewLine;<script>&NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>The Justice Department today filed a complaint and proposed consent decree with Cumberland County&comma; New Jersey and the Cumberland County Department of Corrections to resolve allegations that conditions at the Cumberland County Jail violate the Constitution&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The proposed consent decree resolves the department’s claims that the jail fails to provide adequate mental health care to incarcerated individuals at risk of self-harm and suicide&comma; and fails to provide medication-assisted treatment&comma; where clinically indicated&comma; to incarcerated individuals experiencing unmedicated opiate withdrawal&period; The proposed consent decree requires the jail to provide adequate mental health care and medication-assisted treatment in those circumstances&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The Justice Department is committed to protecting the civil rights of everyone in our country&comma; and under our Constitution&comma; jails and prisons must provide adequate medical care to incarcerated individuals&comma;” said Attorney General Merrick B&period; Garland&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Today’s proposed consent decree is a significant step toward improving the care of individuals incarcerated in Cumberland County who are struggling with serious mental health disorders&comma; and toward protecting the civil rights that are guaranteed by our Constitution&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;This consent decree marks a significant milestone in the Justice Department’s efforts to combat discrimination against those with opioid use disorder and to protect the civil rights of people in our jails and prisons&comma;” said Assistant Attorney General for Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Under this agreement&comma; Cumberland County must provide adequate medical and mental health care&comma; including access to life-saving medications&comma; treatment for opiate withdrawal&comma; and protection for those with a heightened risk of self-harm and suicide&period; We commend Cumberland County for working collaboratively with us to implement the reforms in this decree to protect the safety and constitutional rights of incarcerated people at Cumberland County Jail&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The opioid epidemic is a public health emergency that plagues too many communities across the country&comma;” said U&period;S&period; Attorney Philip R&period; Sellinger for the District of New Jersey&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Medications are a critically important tool in combatting the opioid crisis&comma; and they save lives&period; By providing medication-assisted treatment to incarcerated individuals experiencing opiate withdrawal&comma; officials at jails and prisons can take significant steps to both combat the opioid epidemic and protect the constitutional rights of their populations&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In June 2018&comma; following suicides at the jail by six incarcerated people denied medication-assisted treatment&comma; the Civil Rights Division and the U&period;S&period; Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey initiated the investigation under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act&period; That statute authorizes the Justice Department to address a pattern or practice of deprivation of constitutional rights of individuals confined to state or local government-run correctional facilities&period; In January 2021&comma; the Department found reasonable cause to believe that Cumberland County’s failure to provide medication-assisted treatment to incarcerated people with opioid use disorder&comma; together with its failure to offer adequate mental health and suicide prevention measures&comma; violated the rights of incarcerated individuals&period; The Department also identified measures necessary to remedy the unlawful conditions&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Additional information about the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department is available on its website at <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;crt&sol;special-litigation-section" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" >https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;crt&sol;special-litigation-section<&sol;a>&period; Additional information about the U&period;S&period; Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey’s Civil Rights Division is available at&colon; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;usao-nj&sol;civil-rights-enforcement" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" >https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;usao-nj&sol;civil-rights-enforcement<&sol;a>&period; Individuals with relevant information about compliance with the agreement are encouraged to contact the Department by phone at 833-223-1547&comma; or by email at Cumberlandcounty&period;jail&commat;usdoj&period;gov&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p> Attachment&lpar;s&rpar;&colon; <img title&equals;"application&sol;pdf" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;modules&sol;file&sol;icons&sol;application-pdf&period;png"&sol;> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;opa&sol;press-release&sol;file&sol;1584071&sol;download" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" >Download Complaint&period;pdf<&sol;a><img title&equals;"application&sol;pdf" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;modules&sol;file&sol;icons&sol;application-pdf&period;png"&sol;> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;opa&sol;press-release&sol;file&sol;1584086&sol;download" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" >Download Agreement&period;pdf<&sol;a>Topic&lpar;s&rpar;&colon; Civil RightsComponent&lpar;s&rpar;&colon; <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;crt&sol;" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" >Civil Rights Division<&sol;a><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;crt&sol;about&sol;spl&sol;" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" >Civil Rights &&num;8211&semi; Special Litigation Section<&sol;a>Press Release Number&colon; 23-567 <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p> Updated May 17&comma; 2023<a href&equals;https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;opa&sol;pr&sol;justice-department-secures-agreement-cumberland-county-addressing-mental-health-care-suicide>Original Article<&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;