Issue 10: Offenders and the Public Have Limited Access to Information AboutCorrectional Health Care, Leading to a Lack of Transparency in theSystem.
Summary
Key Recommendations
· Require the Committee to make information about offender health care readily available to the public.
· Require TDCJ to make information about healthcare services readily available to offenders.
· TDCJ’s Health Services Division and the university providers should provide more useful information in response to offender grievances.
Key Findings
· Little information about correctional health care is readily available to the public or offenders.
· The lack of information about correctional health care fosters a perception of secrecy that clouds public confidence in the system.
· The Legislature and other jurisdictions have recognized the benefits of openness and improved information sharing regarding correctional health care.
Conclusion
Administering a constitutional correctional healthcare system requires that leaders make prudent decisions about health care in the challenging context of the prison environment. Clinical guidelines and community standards of care are constantly balanced against security and budgetary constraints. Correctional healthcare administrators in Texas face these difficult decisions daily, but they make very little information available about the deliberative process or the resulting policies. This lack of readily available information can lead to frustration, and precipitate a sentiment of distrust. Sunset staff identified several actions that would better educate offenders and the public, and support a continued assurance in the constitutionality of the system.