by Web Master | Jun 6, 2022 | News, Uncategorized
Prisoners’ Legal Services is looking for a receptionist/administrative assistant who wants to use their skills to support the rights of people in prison.
We are a small non-profit society providing legal services to people in federal and provincial prisons in the province of British Columbia.
The receptionist/administrative assistant reports to the executive director. The position involves providing reception/intake, office and clerical services to support lawyers and advocates.
Duties include:
- Answering calls from clients, entering information into our database, determining their legal issues, directing calls to the appropriate staff member and taking messages as appropriate;
- Providing clients with referrals to other agencies, sending public legal education material and providing limited legal information in specific identified areas;
- Answering other calls, taking messages, arranging couriers, sending and delivering faxes and mail;
- Maintaining accurate database and filing system;
- Drafting letters;
- Track access to information requests and responses;
- Arranging legal aid lawyers to represent clients at hearings;
- providing advocacy and litigation support for advocates and lawyers;
- may assist with IT and website; and
- keeping the office organized and tidy, vacuuming and taking out recycling and garbage every other week.
Basic Qualifications:
- grade 12 education and training in administrative assistance;
- knowledge of computer systems; and
- adequate typing speed.
Skills and Abilities:
- able to be discreet and to exercise excellent judgment in matters of ethics and confidentiality;
- ability to work well with others in a team setting;
- must have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, in particular in dealing with people in prison, lawyers, prison and parole officials;
- must be efficient;
- must have ability to deal with distressed clients in a calm and respectful manner; and
- must have a desire to assist those convicted of various crimes in a non-judgmental way, including those with mental health disabilities, those with low income, or those whose first language is not English.
Salary: $43,166 (benefits after 6 months)
Closing date: June 17, 2022
Starting date: ASAP
Interested applicants should submit a covering letter together with a résumé outlining how their qualifications meet the position requirements to:
Jennifer Metcalfe, Executive Director
Prisoners’ Legal Services
Email: jmetcalfe[at]pls-bc.ca
prisonjustice.org
by Web Master | Apr 13, 2022 | News
Intake worker/Administrative Assistant
Prisoners’ Legal Services, Burnaby, BC
Prisoners’ Legal Services is looking for a compassionate intake worker/administrative assistant who wants to use their skills to support the rights of people in prison.
We are a small non-profit society providing legal services to federal and provincial prisoners in the province of British Columbia.
The intake worker/administrative assistant reports to the executive director. The position involves providing reception/intake, office and clerical services to support lawyers and advocates.
Duties include:
- Answering calls from clients, entering information into our database, determining their legal issues, directing calls to the appropriate staff member and taking messages as appropriate;
- Providing clients with referrals to other agencies, sending public legal education material and providing limited legal information in specific identified areas;
- Answering other calls, taking messages, arranging couriers, sending and delivering faxes and mail;
- Maintaining accurate database and filing system;
- Drafting letters;
- Track access to information requests and responses;
- Arranging legal aid lawyers to represent clients at hearings;
- providing advocacy and litigation support for advocates and lawyers;
- may assist with IT and website; and
- keeping the office organized and tidy, vacuuming and taking out recycling and garbage every other week.
Basic Qualifications:
- grade 12 education and training in administrative assistance;
- knowledge of computer systems; and
- adequate typing speed.
Skills and Abilities:
- able to be discreet and to exercise excellent judgment in matters of ethics and confidentiality;
- ability to work well with others in a team setting;
- must have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, in particular in dealing with people in prison, lawyers, prison and parole officials;
- must have ability to deal with distressed clients in a calm and respectful manner; and
- must have a desire to assist those convicted of various crimes in a non-judgmental way, including those with mental health disabilities, those with low income, or those whose first language is not English.
Salary: $41,490 (benefits after 6 months)
Closing date: April 25, 2022
Starting date: May 2022
Interested applicants should submit a covering letter describing why they would like to work in a social justice oriented organization that serves people in prison, together with a résumé outlining how their qualifications meet the position requirements to:
Jennifer Metcalfe, Executive Director
Prisoners’ Legal Services
Tel: (604) 853-3114
Fax: (604) 853-1038
Email: jmetcalfe@pls-bc.ca
by Web Master | Dec 17, 2021 | Submissions
Today, Prisoners’ Legal Services wrote to Correctional Service Canada Commissioner Anne Kelly asking for policy reform to prohibit correctional officers from cutting the clothes off people in prison, and preventing correctional officers from being present on living units in treatment centres, unless called in by health care staff. Click here to see the letter.
by Web Master | Dec 17, 2021 | News Releases
Burnaby, BC – Prisoners’ Legal Services
Prisoners’ Legal Services (PLS) and the Correctional Service Canada (CSC) have come to an agreement to settle a complaint filed by PLS with the Canadian Human Rights Commission in 2018 about CSC’s administration of Opioid Agonist Treatment (OAT). PLS filed the complaint in response to calls from over 75 people who were unable to receive lifesaving OAT in prison due to long waitlists or because they had been inappropriately cut off their medication.
CSC has committed to eliminating waitlists for OAT. When PLS filed its complaint, our clients were regularly waiting months, and sometimes over one year, to receive OAT. CSC’s most recent statistics show that the total number of people receiving OAT in custody has been increasing, and the number of people across the country waiting for OAT has decreased. As of September 2021, institutions in the Pacific region and elsewhere have small or no waitlists, though long waitlists still exist at some institutions, particularly in the Prairie region. CSC will continue to publish waitlist data on its website until waitlists are eliminated at every institution.
People in prison also regularly reported that they would be cut off OAT if they were suspected of giving away their medication, even if they were benefiting from the medication. Some reported being cut off cold turkey, resulting in painful and dangerous withdrawal symptoms. Many discussed their fears of overdosing.
CSC’s OAT program will now be overseen by a National Medical Advisor for OAT, a new position within CSC. CSC has also made changes to its Guidance document on OAT to ensure that medical professionals act in the best interest of their patients and follow the United Nations Mandela Rules, which outline ethical obligations of healthcare providers in prisons.
CSC has now made it clear that OAT must not be discontinued unless it is clinically appropriate or at the request of the patient. Health care providers will work with patients to help them engage in treatment that is right for them, and if patients are benefiting from OAT they should not be discontinued. Any withdrawal symptoms will be treated urgently. All involuntary discontinuations will now be reviewed by the National OAT Medical Advisor, and the patient is entitled to a copy of the review.
CSC has also included Good Samaritan principles in its policy on institutional discipline so that people can seek medical assistance for potential overdoses without fear of being charged.
PLS’ human rights complaint also addressed the lack of psychosocial support for people with opioid dependence, in addition to medication. CSC has committed to implementing Self-Management and Recovery Training (SMART), which will be available at each penitentiary in Canada. Additional or different psychosocial treatment will be offered when clinically indicated.
CSC has also engaged with a medical records specialist to address the difficulty patients have getting timely access to their own medical records.
“Canada is in the midst of an overdose crisis,” said Prisoners’ Legal Services Executive Director Jennifer Metcalfe. “Access to OAT is an essential health service and we are pleased CSC has committed to making sure people in federal custody can access it without unnecessary barriers or delays. We are also pleased that CSC’s OAT program will be governed by international ethical standards for prison healthcare and overseen by an addictions medicine expert.
“Our work is driven by the concerns of our incarcerated clients, and we filed this complaint after hearing over and over that they could not get OAT. This settlement helps to affirm the human rights of people in federal custody who use drugs,” said Nicole Kief, Legal Advocate at Prisoners’ Legal Services.
Click here to see CSC`s news release regarding the settlement.
Click here to see CSC`s factsheet on its OAT program.
Media contacts:
Jennifer Metcalfe
Nicole Kief
604-636-0470
by Web Master | Dec 16, 2021 | News Releases
Burnaby BC – Today, Prisoners’ Legal Services filed a human rights complaint on behalf of Perry DeFazio against the Correctional Service Canada for discrimination based on mental health disability.
Perry has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and has a history of self-harm and suicide attempts. He is a survivor of childhood physical and sexual abuse.
On January 28, 2020, Perry was put in an isolation cell for suicide monitoring at Correctional Service Canada’s Regional Mental Health Centre in Quebec. Correctional officers forcibly tackled Perry, held him down on the bed and cut off his clothes.
Later the same day, Perry was strapped to Pinel restraints to prevent self-harm, where he was taunted by a correctional officer. He spent hours in the restraints. A nurse saw that his foot was injured and asked officers to adjust the straps. An officer accused Perry of spitting at him, although officers were wearing face shields. An officer then punched Perry in the head twice. Another officer hit him in the face three times. He was eventually taken to the hospital where he saw in a mirror that his face was swollen like a balloon. Hospital records confirm that officers used so much force that the bone around Perry’s eye was fractured and his nose was injured.
“I feel traumatized and I am afraid when guards come near me” Perry says in his complaint. He also describes experiencing anxiety attacks.
The Correctional Service Canada reviewed the use of force and concluded that the force was not necessary or proportionate. The Office of the Correctional Investigator confirmed these findings.
“It is appalling that physical violence is used at a Treatment Centre against someone in emotional distress. Treatment centres should be safe and therapeutic environments where people are treated compassionately by health care professionals. Instead we see people facing isolation and violence when they feel suicidal,” said Jennifer Metcalfe, executive director of Prisoners’ Legal Services.
CSC health care staff did not speak with Perry about this violent experience, or help him to process it.
“Trust is an essential foundation to any therapeutic health care relationship. How can people in prison have trust with mental health care providers if they fail to acknowledge the trauma of these kinds of abusive practices?” said Jennifer Metcalfe.
Prisoners’ Legal Services takes the position that correctional officers should not be on living units of treatment centres unless called in by health care staff for assistance, and that interventions for people in emotional distress should be led by health care staff.
Media contact:
Jennifer Metcalfe
604-636-0470
