When patients enter the Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility for treatment, Daphne Kendrick, director of the facility, reminds them that they deserve mental health treatment just like anyone else. I think I would like them to keep it that way.
“There is no one here who has committed a crime,” Kendrick said. “They are being evaluated to see if they have the ability to exercise their personal rights to protect themselves or their rights to a defense.”
When completed in 2025, the facility will be expanded and renovated to accommodate 225 people, expand mental health services and reduce the number of mentally ill people in prison.
“Our goal is to help people recover,” said Marissa Valdez, spokeswoman for the Alabama Department of Mental Health.
The facility has provided psychiatric treatment to pretrial inmates since 1981. People who have been arrested and charged with a crime but have mental health issues are referred to the facility.
Mr Kendrick said the mindset of patients, who face the “double stigma” of having mental health problems and being arrested, is completely different from when the facility opened in the 1980s. said.
After an $83 million renovation and expansion, the doors no longer have bars and there are no more blank white walls. The facility is hospital-like, surrounded by windows that provide warm light, spring colors, and murals on the walls.
The expansion and ongoing renovations will add 85 beds to the center and make many other changes.
“Innovation allows us to provide more care and more treatment opportunities,” Kendrick said.
The expansion will include additional courtyards, individual and group therapy rooms, dining areas, and medical areas for nurses and doctors. There is also a quiet room for overstimulated patients, a barber shop, and a library.
Kendrick said adding these amenities “gives you a little more independence and autonomy and honestly makes you feel more valued because you can make your own choices.”
New treatment programs are available to patients to accelerate recovery. These programs are individualized based on the patient’s mental and cognitive abilities and focus on motivation, independence, and empowerment. Staff reward patients with a point system for keeping themselves and their surroundings clean, not influencing others’ negative choices or actions, and respecting others.
Kendrick said it’s about eliminating “a punitive system where if you lose, we take away.”
“We’re not going to take away points,” she said. “Earn points and get points. It’s that simple. We’re not going to let you join.”
The “life skills” room is equipped with a stove, oven, refrigerator, and other equipment similar to a fully furnished efficiency apartment to prepare patients for living on their own after discharge. Patients are taught how to cook, wash dishes, set the table, and store food.
Mock court allows patients to practice how to behave in court and learn procedures to help them prepare without getting nervous.
Virginia Scott Adams, Director of Forensic Mental Health Services, emphasized that these programs and treatment options are not limited to Taylor Hardin residents. The goal is to provide these restoration services to people still in prison so they can either stand trial or be released.
“We can defend justice,” Scott Adams said. “We can preserve the court process. We can protect the rights of victims and the entire community. But we can also protect the rights of these people to step out into the community and be successful. We are also able to provide services that allow us to remain productive. Therefore, we are managing our allocated resources well and as a result of the funds allocated to us to enable us to continue this work. , with positive results.”
