Mental Health Liaison Officers (MHLO)
Correctional officers (C/O) with enhanced mental health training who support inmates with their mental health needs and conduct CGI-C assessments.
He is actively seeking support for his mental health (MH) by working with his MHLO. On Mar. 28, he received a CGI-C rating of four indicating he is “moderately ill.” Officer Brian, his MHLO, shared positive feedback about him stating he is independent, keeps to himself, compliant, and receptive.
She refuses the support of the Mental Health Liaison Officer (MHLO) and the Centre’s mental health team. During intake, when she was admitted into custody, when asked about employment she said “I’m a zombie hunter and I hunt people.”
The MHLO testified that she recently met inmate Desmond and began working with him and she noticed that he has irregular thought patterns and struggles with impulse control and outbursts.
MHLO Roberts testified that he is quiet, polite, and gets along well with his peers.
Mental Health Needs (MHN)
According to the Profile of BC Corrections (2025), over 60% of individuals in provincial correctional centres in BC have been diagnosed with mental health or addictions challenges. MHN is a classification designation as identified by health care. Inmates classified as MHN reside on Mental Health Needs Units.
He said he has crippling depressive thoughts. He is classified by the Centre as a client with MHN. When not housed in segregation, he resides on an MHN unit. He has not received a CGI-C rating while housed in seg because of the statutory Easter long weekend.
He said he struggles with a fentanyl and crystal meth addiction and has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and severe anxiety. He explained when he was living in Ottawa he was held hostage and tortured. When he left Ottawa, he could not get the prescription for his anxiety medication resulting in withdrawal symptoms and manifested into his addictions. He sometimes feels claustrophobic which is a symptom of his PTSD. He is classified by the Centre as a client with Mental Health Needs (MHN) and housed on a MHN unit.
Inmate Bell is diagnosed with: Multiple Sclerosis (MS), bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and manic depressive disorder. When on the street, he self-medicates with alcohol and cocaine. He is classified as a client with MHN and housed on the Complex Needs Unit.
He has an addiction to crystal meth and heroin. When he was twelve, he started using crack cocaine. Now at the age of thirty seven, he wants to address his substance misuse issues and has been accepted into a twelve month treatment program. He shared that he is struggling with his mental health because his father recently passed away. He has multiple brain injuries that he sustained from car accidents. He attributes his involvement in the criminal justice system with his brain injuries due to a lack of impulse control.
He has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from when he was seventeen years old after being beaten with a crowbar. As a result, he has steel plates in his jaw.
He is classified by the Centre as a client with MHN with “explosive anger issues.”
Inmate George was not present in the hearing. Disciplinary Hearing Coordinator (DHC) Blakeney advised that he could not be safely escorted to the hearing room because he is “volatile and hostile.”... Last month, inmate George was certified under the Mental Health Act and he is expected to be reassessed. He was served his charge paperwork, but medically unstable when served.