Bill would keep women in civil cases from prison
Some in substance abuse cases went to MCI-Framingham
State legislators say they will press for passage of a law to ban the imprisonment of women who are civilly committed for alcohol or substance abuse, while a state Department of Public Health official says it is doing everything possible to prevent women from spending their involuntary treatment time behind bars.
Meanwhile, Kitty Dukakis, wife of former governor Michael Dukakis, decried the practice and urged Governor Deval Patrick to lead an effort to end it.
The Globe reported earlier this month that some women ordered by courts to undergo treatment for alcohol or substance abuse were sent instead to the state women's prison in Framingham when beds were unavailable at a New Bedford facility.
"It's important to get the bill into statute so people would be sent to New Bedford," said state Representative Kay Khan, a Newton Democrat who sponsored the bill that would eliminate MCI-Framingham as a civil commitment option.
State Representative Ruth Balser, a Newton Democrat who is House chairwoman of the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse, said she supports Khan's efforts.
"In the case of the mentally ill, they go to a psychiatric hospital. These women, who by virtue of their addiction are also ill, can land in a Department of Correction facility," Balser said. "People who are ill should be in a healthcare facility, not a correction facility."
Michael Botticelli, assistant commissioner for substance abuse services at the Department of Public Health, praised what he called the New Bedford center's "excellent treatment." Ultimately, the center has significantly increased the state's capacity to treat civilly committed women in an appropriate setting. He said that before the center opened, limited resources only allowed for eight beds devoted to treating civil commitments.
"When the department received additional resources, one of the first things we did was to put out funding to expand services for civil commitments," Botticelli said. "Clearly, the department is committed to not having women go to MCI-Framingham."
Botticelli added that since the New Bedford center expanded to 84 beds in January, no civilly committed woman has been sent to MCI-Framingham because of lack of space. He said that his department supports the intent of the legislation aimed at helping female civil commitments, and hopes to see less of a need for civil commitments in general as the department expands community-based detox and treatment.
"The department has met the spirit of the legislation, even without legislation, by increasing bed capacity to respond to demand," he said.
Diane Wiffin, the state Department of Correction's public affairs director, wrote in an e-mail that the law allows women to be sent to MCI-Framingham as a last resort, where the prison manages them "until they are suitable for transfer or until a bed opens up."
Kitty Dukakis called on the Patrick administration to take a leading role. As a recovering alcoholic, she said, she feels strongly about the issue.
"We have gone backwards in terms of how we treated those with illnesses," she said. "The heads of all agencies need to get together. . . . I know that things can be done and done right away in a crisis situation, and this is a crisis."
Globe correspondent Jordan Zappala contributed to this story.
Kelsey Abbruzzese, Brittany Peats, and Jordan Zappala are graduate journalism students at Boston University. They researched and wrote this story under the supervision of BU professors Dick Lehr and Mitchell Zuckoff, former members of the Globe Spotlight Team.
