Correctional institutions XX  In terms of the treatment and care of persons held in detention, individualised therapy offerings are as important as appropriate room accommodations. XX  Efforts should always be made to induce unmotivated detainees to participate in therapy. XX  Special training courses should be offered to assist staff in coping with the challenges of dealing with unmotivated detainees. Therapy brought to a standstill by transfer of prisoners with mental health care needs – Schwarzau correctional institution; Asten Centre for Forensic Science Prototype of best practice The draft of the new Detention of Mentally Ill Offenders Act (Maßnahmenvollzugsgesetz) provides that prisoners with mental health care needs should only be placed and treated in forensic therapeutic centres. The first such centre was opened in Asten in the spring of 2010. It is located on the grounds of Asten satellite facility at Linz correctional institution and is headed by a psychologist. In the opinion of the NPM, the Asten Centre for Forensic Science – particularly after completion of the annexe in 2015 – meets the spatial requirements for adequate care and for preparing prisoners with mental health care needs for life after detention (see NPM Report 2015, p. 118 et seq.). It is a particularly positive development that the entrance area no longer has gate guards, but a reception desk. The presence of uniformed police officers is avoided to the extent possible. Prison guards are only responsible for exterior security at the facility. Women have been discriminated against for years Until 2017, only male prisoners with mental health care needs were admitted to Asten Centre for Forensic Science. Female prisoners with mental health care needs who could be held accountable for their actions were placed in Schwarzau correctional institution. The NPM considered the conditions there to be completely inadequate and demanded that women be provided with modern accommodations which met standards (see NPM Report 2015, p. 119). Creation of a women‘s ward in Asten During a visit to Schwarzau correctional institution in the autumn of 2016, the NPM learned of plans to transfer all prisoners with mental health care needs at Schwarzau correctional institution to a specially designed residential group at the Asten Centre for Forensic Science. Therapy at a standstill before transfer The NPM heartily welcomes this step. However, it is worthy of criticism that the therapy offered to the female patients was greatly scaled back after the planned transfer was announced. As early as mid-2016, no new psychotherapies were 108

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