The General Directorate of Penitentiary and Correctional Services (DGSPC) acknowledged that although shortcomings persist in the penitentiary system, joint work is carried out every day to improve and tidy up prison facilities, as well as to improve the quality of services directed towards persons deprived of liberty.
In response to the report from the National Public Defense Office revealing the deterioration of the penitentiary system and the inhumane situation suffered by prisoners, the director of DGSPC, Roberto Hernández, said that as a result of the efforts made in that department, there has been a significant improvement in the health and food services received by prisoners.
In a statement issued by DGSPC It is detailed that within the improvements in the health area, there is the opening of the Care Center for Senior Citizens that operates in Batey Bienvenido.
He also pointed out that: “Today they have special pavilions to care for prisoners with mental health problems. This pilot works in the detention centers of La Victoria, Najayo Mujeres, Najayo Hombres and a nearby one in the Correction and Rehabilitation Center of San Pedro de Macorís.”
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In addition to the operation of these special pavilions, the official reported that, in addition to the physical structure, they have a special fund for the purchase of the medicines that these inmates need.
“This support for the mental health of inmates is due to the inter-institutional agreement between the Dominican College of Psychologists (CODOPSI) and the Dominican Association of Psychiatry, whose professionals support the system for the intervention of prisoners who need these medical specialties,” he added.
Roberto Hernández said that at the request of the DGSPC, the coordination table and the work plan were created to seek comprehensive solutions to the existing problems in the system.
He explained that currently, the system has 179 doctors who provide services in the different centers of deprivation of liberty, thanks to the inter-institutional collaboration agreements that the organization has with the National Health Service (SNS), which has provided them with part of the medical doctors and the other part has been assumed by the DGSPC, through the Attorney General’s Office.
She pointed out the headache they faced in having to find an appointment for him, because the system has an appointment management module for prisoners, which has a follow-up schedule, this as a result of the agreement with the National Health Service.
He said that the central government is working on the completion of pending penitentiary centers, such as: the Correction and Rehabilitation Center of Las Parras, the Pedro Corto Center, in Las Matas de Farfán, in the province of San Juan, as well as the center in Barahona, which is also in its final stage through the Ministry of Housing.
