I’m a licensed scientific social employee. For over a decade, I’ve labored with folks on parole, a lot of whom are mandated to substance abuse and psychological well being therapy. My ardour for advocating for these straight impacted by our so-called legal justice system has additionally led me to pursue a Ph.D. in Social Welfare. I’ve at all times hoped to vary the insurance policies that hurt the folks I serve.
So in 2023, when the chance got here to work on New York’s Rikers Island jail advanced, I knew I needed to take it. I didn’t need to be one other “skilled” who spoke about incarceration with out ever having set foot inside a jail or jail. I needed to witness the truth and to face beside these dwelling it.
I began my job as a scientific supervisor for psychological well being that December. I used to be assigned to 2 models within the George R. Vierno Middle, a jail for grownup males. One unit was for commentary. The opposite was a PACE (Program to Speed up Medical Effectiveness) unit for intensive therapy.
Whereas I had an orientation about my function and job obligations, I wasn’t ready for what I quickly witnessed: the widespread use of a observe often called “deadlocking.”
“Deadlocking” was the time period corrections officers used to explain how they’d lock people in psychological well being models of their cells for weeks or months at a time, often underneath the guise of safety. Deadlocked sufferers typically went with out human contact, daylight — or their medicines, together with these to deal with their psychological sickness.
Every day in my models, I had quite a few sufferers locked in. I additionally witnessed it in different models all through the jail, and I mentioned it with friends and my superiors. Everybody knew what deadlocking was, even the people detained there.
Whereas violence in opposition to employees is an actual drawback at Rikers, I noticed many individuals deadlocked resulting from private selections the corrections officers made. An officer would lock a person in as a result of they felt disrespected by the affected person or they checked out him in a “bizarre manner.”
As soon as sufferers had been deadlocked, they’d quickly decompensate to the purpose the place they’d bang on their doorways, scream all day and night time, and smear feces throughout their cells. The officers would then use conduct that was a direct results of excessive confinement to justify extending it. Typically I couldn’t eat lunch as a result of I smelled feces, and I couldn’t think about my work due to the banging and screaming.
Despite the pervasiveness, deadlocking was not an official coverage. We weren’t allowed to make use of this sort of de facto solitary confinement as a instrument for managing affected person conduct. The observe clearly went in opposition to the minimal requirements that the Board of Correction had set to make sure protected and humane housing of individuals detained, particularly for these identified with a severe psychological sickness.
Since deadlocking was in opposition to the principles, nobody documented it. Officers made up their very own system to maintain monitor of who was locked in. Of their safety bubble, on the management panel, they’d place items of white paper on high of the buttons that opened the cell doorways of deadlocked sufferers. “White tags” let different officers know to not open a cell.
As a result of officers had full management of the observe, psychiatric employees would report missed doses of medicine as “affected person was not produced” or “affected person refused.” To my data, the psychiatric nurse practitioners on the models who had been prescribing these medication noticed what was occurring however didn’t converse out.
I couldn’t perceive how any of this was taking place in psychological well being models. It made no logical sense that individuals who had been alleged to be receiving therapy had been being denied medicine and positioned in circumstances that may exacerbate their signs of psychological sickness.
As a social employee, I’m a mandated reporter of abuse or neglect. For example, after I labored in an outpatient psychological well being program, we had been advised quite a few occasions that if we suspected a shopper was being harmed, we had been required to contact the state’s Justice Middle for the Safety of Folks With Particular Wants. We additionally acquired formal coaching on find out how to make a report.
On Rikers Island, I used to be shocked to be taught that I used to be not a mandated reporter for the grownup inhabitants I served. I actually needed to report the deadlocking to an out of doors company as a result of it was inhumane and in opposition to my code of ethics. However I used to be by no means advised who to contact or find out how to file a report. I even thought of sharing what I’d witnessed with the Board of Correction anonymously, however I had spoken out about this observe so many occasions, I used to be afraid folks would put it collectively. The one manner I noticed to securely report what I witnessed was to not work at Rikers anymore.
One particular person, whom I’ll name B., left a long-lasting mark on me and sparked my resolution to go away Rikers. He taught me that essentially the most highly effective acts of advocacy can start with talking the reality and strolling away from injustice.
B. was in his early 30s. He’d been identified with schizophrenia years earlier than, and he had an extended historical past of arrests and homelessness. Like a lot of my different sufferers, he’d been transferred from one other psychological well being unit.
Officers in my unit advised me they’d be deadlocking B. as a result of that was the case in his earlier unit and “he likes to play with shit.” Since deadlocks weren’t documented, I didn’t understand how lengthy this man had been locked in. By the point I met him, he was screaming, banging and smearing feces in his cell. His water was turned off as a result of he’d flooded his cell.
I pleaded with a few of the officers on my unit, they usually lastly allowed him to be “set free” of his cell. Because of this, B. was capable of take a bathe, discuss to his friends, take part within the restricted actions provided, use the telephone, go outdoors, and — most significantly — he had entry to all of his medicines.
Since B. had been confined with out his medicine for not less than a month, he nonetheless acted oddly. For example, he typically stood by my door and stared. This didn’t hassle me as a result of I knew of his situation. He did nice for the primary week. Nonetheless, after I returned to work on Monday, I discovered him deadlocked once more.
Not one of the officers I requested had been certain of why. They did say that they’d heard {that a} feminine officer who had come from the unit throughout from mine to get water from our workplace felt uncomfortable about how B. was her.
Locked in once more, this man was screaming, banging, smearing feces and tearing up his mattress in rage. At that second, I noticed there can be little or no change I might make working in that jail.
Ultimately, I used to be capable of get B. transferred to the PACE unit, which presents the very best degree of psychological well being care on Rikers. He was terrified when he got here in, asking me frantically if a tag can be placed on his cell.
As a result of B. had been discovered unfit to face trial, he was on a waitlist for an out of doors facility operated by the Workplace of Psychological Well being. His flip lastly got here up, and he was despatched to a hospital, the place he spent roughly three months.
On Sept. 20, my final day on the job, B. got here again to Rikers and was unrecognizable. Throughout his time away, he’d acquired therapy and was not deadlocked. He’d gained weight and was capable of have a coherent dialog with me.
It broke my coronary heart when he blamed himself for being deadlocked. I used to be so heartbroken that I ended the session with out telling him it was my final day. Finest observe would have been to let him know upfront to provide him the chance to course of and say goodbye. However I might have damaged down and cried. I didn’t need to do this in entrance of him, the opposite sufferers, and the correction officers.
So I went again into my workplace and cried. I assumed this model of B. — wholesome, coherent, even glad — was who he was alleged to be the entire time. At that second, I knew for certain that leaving was the precise resolution. I might do extra on the surface than I might on the within.
I am a quiet soul who typically hides within the nook, however I knew I needed to discover the voice to talk out. As soon as I resigned, I testified earlier than the Board of Correction about this observe and acquired media consideration. Quickly, I used to be knowledgeable by public defenders who had been representing people on the psychological well being models and the few former coworkers nonetheless talking to me that my sufferers and others had been launched from impasse.
The Division of Investigation started a proper investigation that I used to be advised might take a yr to finish. Together with Social Staff and Allies Towards Solitary Confinement, I’m working to cross a state invoice that may prohibit well being care staff from collaborating in torture, together with long-term solitary confinement. The legislation would additionally require well being care staff to report suspected abuse of incarcerated people or danger shedding their license, and supply whistleblower protections to make sure the confidentiality and security of each the reporter and the incarcerated individual.
Stepping ahead as a whistleblower is rarely simple. It means risking your security, your livelihood, and your sense of belonging. I used to be very scared that I might face threats and retaliation in opposition to me and my household.
I used to be additionally afraid of being within the public eye. However I wasn’t alone. From the start, I had assist from my household, a number of shut mates, public defenders and people from grassroots organizations. The vast majority of the activists who proceed to assist me have been incarcerated, so that they know what was at stake. They stand by me after I want it essentially the most. That is what each whistleblower wants.
On my final day at Rikers, sufferers who knew I used to be leaving introduced me with handmade playing cards. I observed how they used the colours I most frequently wore — pinks and purples. This confirmed how carefully that they had been paying consideration. One among them wrote, “Thanks for being a supply of sunshine in a darkish place. Thanks for caring, thanks for displaying that its okay to deal with your self.”
The care these males put into these playing cards meant extra to me than any of the levels I’ve earned, which nonetheless sit in packing containers years after I’ve acquired them.
Not a day goes by that I don’t take into consideration Rikers and the folks I left behind. I don’t solely bear in mind their names, but in addition their tales, the occasions we shared, and their profound impression on me for the remainder of my life.
Justyna Rzewinski is a mom, licensed scientific social employee and Ph.D. candidate based mostly in New York Metropolis. Born in Poland, she immigrated to the USA on the age of seven, unable to talk English. This expertise profoundly formed her dedication to fairness and inclusion. Her work spans scientific observe, analysis and activism and is grounded within the perception that therapeutic should be the muse of any simply system. Her doctoral analysis focuses on felony disenfranchisement as a mechanism of racialized political exclusion and democratic suppression. Comply with Rzewinski on Instagram at @justynaspeaksup.
In response to fact-checking questions and requests for remark, a New York Metropolis Division of Correction spokesperson said: “As quickly as these allegations of unauthorized lock-ins had been made public, the Division of Correction referred this matter to the Division of Investigation, and that investigation is ongoing.”
In response to fact-checking questions, the communications workplace of NYC Well being + Hospitals/Correctional Well being Companies said: “It’s each CHS coverage and observe that every one CHS employees, affiliated staff, and contracted service suppliers report incidents that have an effect on affected person care, well being service supply, and the protection of employees and sufferers. When employees encounter limitations to delivering providers to sufferers, they’re anticipated to tell their supervisors, who will escalate, as wanted, to resolve such limitations. A Well being Service Administrator, and different members of the CHS Operations workforce, can be accessible to jail-based employees to handle incidents in actual time.”
