WHEREAS, correctional officers without medical training are placed in a position each day where they must try to evaluate the seriousness of complaints from, and the behavior of, prisoners about whose health and medications they have been given no information; and

WHEREAS, some correctional facilities lack evening medical staff of any kind and even the ones that do have nurses on duty may lack enough correctional staff to transport prisoners to the infirmary or a hospital; and

WHEREAS, complaints from the families of prisoners have revealed a need to insure that genuinely sick prisoners are given the services to which they are entitled, and

WHEREAS, a healthy inmate can participate in work and counseling programs which will have long term benefits to the inmate and the State;

NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

“Section 1. Amend Chapter 65 of Title 11 of the Delaware Code by adding to Section 6536 the following new Subsections (f) through (y) which shall read as follows:

“(f) The Department and the medical services provider shall recognize that correctional officers are a part of the medical team in any correctional institution because they are the first to hear requests for medical assistance and they are the only persons who routinely observe the behavior and physical condition of inmates before and after they visit the infirmary. They control whether or not a prisoner gets to visit the infirmary or see a medical staff member; and they must cope with such problems as violent outbursts, fainting spells, heart attacks, diabetic comas, inmates in labor, seizures and strokes as well as inmates who fake these and other symptoms for various reasons. They transport contagious prisoners to hospitals. Therefore, the medical services provider shall inform the correctional officers of the diagnosis and physical condition of inmates in their care where the inmate would benefit from having his or her condition known to the officer in charge of their cell block or building; where the officer may be endangered if a violent reaction to a mood altering drug is experienced; or where other inmates living with them need to be protected from a contagious disease. Conditions such as diabetes; angina or other heart conditions; fevers; epilepsy; pregnancy; severe allergy problems; asthma; drug addiction; mental illness with possible presentation of suicidal ideation, violent tendencies, or catatonia; or possibly recurring communicable or sexually transmitted diseases, for the safety of the inmate and the people with whom he has the closest contact, shall be made known to officers working in the cell block or unit where inmates with such conditions reside and by the officers to cell mates of all such prisoners with these conditions. Failure of the medical services provider’s staff to communicate this information to the correctional officers as required shall be grounds for the Department’s administrator of medical services to seek damages from the provider or have the provider discipline the employees failing to comply.

(1) The Delaware Automated Correctional System computers shall be programmed for communications among medical staff, correctional officers, and supervisors. A separate, secure computer medical file shall be maintained for all inmates and a computer bulletin board and log book set up for correctional officers’ stations. Correctional officers shall record in the Daily Log Book File observations of any unusual or obvious physical symptoms or extreme changes in behavior they may observe during activity or bed counts on their shift if they believe them to be indications of illness, a reaction to medication, or a reaction to the withdrawal of a legal or illegal drug. The Log Book File should be available online to the nurses in the infirmary. They must be checked no less than every 2 hours. After notifying the nurse or infirmary promptly, the correctional officer on duty at a module or duty station shall record any verbal complaints of inmates regarding their medical condition when they do not believe the inmate needs to be seen by medical staff and a 404 Form is not submitted. All Code 4 visits and transfers of inmates to the infirmary or a hospital shall be recorded as soon as possible in the Log Book File and a notation made of the condition of the inmate at the time. These files shall be retained and available for audit for as long as the inmate is in the custody of the Department or expected to return to the custody of the Department. A registered nurse employed by the Department and supervised by the Department’s administrator of medical services shall routinely transfer medical observations from the officers’ log book files into inmate files, so that an assessment can be made by doctors when the nurse flags the file for attention by a physician or when a medical examination of the inmate becomes necessary. When the Department acquires video diagnostic equipment, all readings taken by the machine shall be saved in the inmates’ files. The nurse shall alert his or her supervisor when inmates’ personal medical files show records are not being made timely or properly by the medical services provider’s staff. Unmistakably serious symptoms of illness or reactions to medication shall be reported verbally by phone to the medical staff on duty immediately upon discovery by any correctional officer anywhere, anytime.

(2) In order for correctional officers to be more aware of the condition of inmates on night shifts, the officer monitoring his or her unit shall do the counts and the person acting as rover shall replace the monitor while the count is done.

(3) The role of the correctional officer is limited to observing and describing the condition of inmates, obtaining medical assistance where necessary, and transporting inmates to medical assistance when required. Observations might include, for example, shaking, tics, profuse sweating when temperatures are not hot, yellow skin color, constant yelling, skin pallor, extreme lethargy in a supposedly healthy individual, extreme diarrhea, constant coughing or muscular coordination problems.

(4) Extreme emergencies for which correctional officers shall be trained and in which situations they should personally assist inmates shall include: a. childbirth in progress where no medical staff has arrived and the baby’s head is presenting; b. type I diabetic reactions where an inmate is in such dangerously low blood sugar that the inmate cannot assist him or herself to obtain glucose or something to raise blood sugar and medical personnel are not immediately available; c. suicide attempts; d. asthma attacks where the inmate needs ventilation or he or she is so critical a nebulizer must be set up immediately and the inmate cannot get to the infirmary until he or she uses one; e. grand mal seizures, heat strokes or heat exhaustion; f. signs of an imminent seizure; and g. other events causing cessation of breathing when no medical staff is immediately available. Correctional officers shall not be required to personally assist an inmate when they are not sure what to do for the inmate and when they do not have appropriate equipment for a response. Each residential building shall have an oxygen mask and oxygen tank available for their use where fire extinguishers are kept. No correctional officer shall be held personally liable for actions taken to assist any inmate with a medical problem or for a failure to act. The director of human resources and/or training for the Department shall present a plan for new medical training for correctional officers within two months following the passage of this Act even if a reorganization of duties is required. Failure by the Department to start medical training classes coordinated with the schedules of correctional officers who will be attending within four months after the passage of this bill shall result in the 1 day suspension without pay of the person to whom the task is assigned. The plan shall require that staff training relief officers stay at a facility where correctional officers are receiving annual training until all the officers have been trained. If any are unavoidably missed, they shall be granted release time to take the training at another facility thereafter.

(g) The Department’s education for correctional officers shall include sufficient hours of mandatory training and testing in monitoring reactions, side effects, and adjustments to medications to enable all officers doing residential guard duty to assess in a general way a medicated prisoner’s condition if behavior or symptoms indicative of serious trouble are presented. They shall learn the vocabulary to report accurately to the medical services provider’s staff unless video diagnostic equipment connecting all cell blocks or units to medical staff is made available before. The first priority in studying medications shall be those prescribed for mental illnesses. The second priority shall be for those antibiotics that are known to cause severe reactions in some individuals. The third shall be the effect of insulin and the fourth shall be the use of asthma medications and so on in order than an inmate might not have to be transferred to the infirmary for a simple, routine medical response for a chronic condition. This shall be part of basic training for new officers required under Section 6565, and mandatory advanced training for current staff. Any correctional officer who has had the opportunity for the advanced training and failed to obtain the training within two years shall be set back one lower level on the pay scale for officers until he or she has attended the medical training courses. Officers who have recently completed annual training shall be granted release time to get the new medical training required by this Act if he or she cannot take the same training for all officers in a facility. Where inmates who are diabetic or asthmatic would be able to self medicate under normal conditions, the Department shall permit them to do so while incarcerated if no other factors are present that make having their medications on their person contraindicated. Diabetic pumps should be allowed and inhalers permitted from the time of admission to a DOC facility. Officers shall be informed by the medical services provider when medications that have the potential to produce severe or dangerous side affects are changed for an inmate in their cell block, unit, or building. They shall be specifically warned if a change in medication may increase an inmate’s potential for suicide. Such warnings should be recorded in the Log Book File. Any officer advised that an inmate’s risk of suicide is changed to moderate or high may ask to have the inmate temporarily removed to the infirmary so that more frequent checks may be made of his or her status than may be possible in his or her regular housing given the staffing level. No correctional officer shall be responsible for the distribution of medication to inmates. The officer’s role shall be limited to observing which inmates are given or obtain medication and from whom. If a correctional officer becomes aware of a mistake in the administration of medication, he shall call a central number which the medical services provider shall designate for such reports and the mistake shall be entered in his Log Book File. When a superior officer receives a verbal or written report from a correctional officer of abnormal activity by an inmate having to do with his medication, the superior shall be responsible for contacting the nurse on duty or the medical services provider’s staff to follow up on the report promptly and determine if the inmate is creating a risk to himself or jeopardizing his treatment. If the verbal report is followed by an order to the officer from the superior, the order shall be specific as to the time in which it is to be carried out.

(h) Correctional officers shall continue to be trained in understanding the physical symptoms of type I and type II diabetes in order to recognize the onset of diabetic comas and low blood sugar reactions. Diabetic inmates shall be provided sheets or log books that come with test equipment so that they may record their blood sugar tests if they are Type I, and they shall have blood sugar test equipment available to use four times a day.

(i) Correctional officers shall be informed of diagnoses of pregnancy in those inmates in their care. Officers guarding female inmates shall be trained to understand the stages of pregnancy and complications that may call for medical intervention. They shall be trained in assisting childbirth in an emergency when no

medical services provider staff is available or a nurse needs their help, and they shall be educated in recognizing spontaneous miscarriages. A miscarriage shall be reported to the medical staff immediately upon an officer becoming aware of one.

(1) While a pregnant woman is incarcerated, the welfare of the fetus shall be a factor in decisions regarding her activity, medication, medical attention and nutrition made by correctional staff. All officers and supervisors in her unit shall be so informed. Pregnant inmates shall be required to do a minimum of one half hour of walking or exercise twice a day unless it is prohibited by their doctor. Pregnant inmates shall be supplied a vitamin and mineral supplement according to obstetrical directions immediately upon diagnosis. The assistance of a nurse or social worker shall be obtained for the inmate to train her to care for herself and the baby and to make decisions about the future care of the baby if she is to remain incarcerated or is without resources of her own or her family’s to provide for it and she intends to give birth. If the mother is to be released after birth, the social worker shall arrange for her to attend a parenting class within six months of the baby’s birth. Any indication of fetal distress or serious problems for the pregnant inmate, such as general, abnormal swelling shall require that the inmate be taken to medical services and, if necessary, transported to a hospital. No officer shall make decisions regarding a response to a locked down inmate’s labor pains without the advice of a member of the medical services provider’s staff or the inmate’s obstetrician. If an officer cannot reach a medical services staff person or the obstetrician, the officer shall assume the labor pains require transport to a medical facility prepared to handle childbirth. The inmate’s obstetrician’s number shall be available for the correctional staff to call at all times.

(2) Upon learning of the pregnancy of an inmate, the medical services provider and the warden shall develop a plan for a safe pregnancy and birth, if the inmate wishes to continue her pregnancy, including having sufficient correctional officers on duty when the medical services provider has no staff at the correctional facility and transport to a medical facility may be necessary. The warden shall see that the medical services provider and the social worker for the inmate have a plan in place for the baby’s care following birth and for the mother’s postpartum, post hospital care if she is to remain confined to her correctional quarters. If childbirth support is available from a family member or a friend while the inmate is in labor and giving birth in a hospital, she shall be permitted to have such assistance provided it causes no legitimate security concerns.

(3) Except where an inmate has arranged for the adoption of her baby or the mother suffers from a mental illness that prevents her giving appropriate care to the baby, the mother shall be entitled to have her baby with her for at least eight weeks postpartum. Breastfeeding shall be permitted unless the condition of the mother would jeopardize the welfare of the infant. The women’s prison or her work release facility shall provide suitable quarters for the mother and child to protect the baby from harm. If the mother is near the end of her sentence and she has a home to which she can take her baby and wishes to take her baby, her sentence may be commuted to time served to enable the baby to start a normal life. For release to be arranged, adequate income to support the mother and baby for the first two months outside the correctional system must be available through family or other means of support. No mother and baby may be released from a facility to avoid the State’s financial responsibility for postpartum care unless suitable arrangements for such outside care following release have been made. Any violation of this subsection shall cause a two-day suspension without pay of the warden and the medical services provider staff person authorizing the release if a release is involved. The rights provided to female inmates by this Act shall be conspicuously posted in areas where female prisoners will see them.

(4) The Department of Corrections shall provide information and education on family planning and sexually transmitted diseases for all prisoners who are to be released within four months. Any female inmate on work release who wishes to have the services of a licensed physician for family planning purposes, but is unable to pay, shall be eligible for such services at State expense up until the time for her release. Upon request, the Department and the medical services provider shall make all types of family planning services and supplies sufficient for a month after release available to inmates about to be released. Courses in parenting and care for babies shall be available for all female inmates of childbearing age on video tape or CD or DVD. Information from adoption agencies also shall be provided by the Department for all pregnant women. The Department shall arrange for social workers to inform inmates of the social service agencies that provide for pregnancy support and assistance with the care of infants when plans are being made for the pregnancy, and they shall be allowed to seek assistance for inmate mothers-to-be from those agencies who may be willing to provide services for women incarcerated.

(j) Because inmates, just as persons in the general population, may develop autoimmune disorders that progressively handicap their physical or mental ability to perform tasks of daily living, the Department shall follow the Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines for these individuals. If medication is available that will slow the progression of their disease, it shall be made available to inmates who wish to take it. Social workers shall be provided with the cooperation of the Department of Health and Social Services to assist the inmates in applying for medical disability payments, but the State shall not keep more than fifty per cent of the monthly payments obtained as reimbursement for medical care or medications. Once an inmate with a disorder is unable to function without a wheelchair, is mentally and physically incapacitated so that they are no longer dangerous, or becomes bedridden, he or she may apply for and may receive pardon or parole if they have family or friends who can care for them. Transfer to the Delaware Hospital for the Chronically Ill shall be arranged when an inmate has no other recourse for needed nursing care.

(k) An inmate shall be entitled to appropriate medical treatment to cure any cancer diagnosed while they are incarcerated whether or not they can pay for the treatment. If an inmate is being treated for cancer or another terminal illness and his or her release is scheduled, a hospital social worker shall be provided to assist the inmate with arrangements to continue treatment. If the release is scheduled to occur before his or her sentence has been completed, the State shall assume the financial responsibility for the continuing treatment unless the inmate is entitled to insurance coverage or has other personal or family resources sufficient to his need for treatment. No inmate undergoing disabling chemotherapy or dying may be released from prison without adequate housing and support from family or other sources to enable continued medical treatment and the adequate necessities of life. The State must provide timely care for all inmates with cancer.

(l) If it appears at intake, that any prisoner is unable to describe his or her physical and mental condition and list medications they have been prescribed, if any, the officer in charge of intake shall call the prisoner’s family, or a friend they suggest, to determine if the person is on medications or has physical or mental health issues that are not immediately apparent. If a translator is needed, one shall be supplied at State expense. The intake officer shall inform medical services personnel of facts he learns. The medical services personnel must attempt to arrange for the prisoner to obtain necessary medication, if any is needed. All physician prescribed medication for new inmates must be continued. If the prisoner is known to have physical or mental health problems, he or she shall be placed in an infirmary, mental health ward, or on suicide watch if the officer has any indication that such arrangements are necessary. If the prisoner has a prescription or medication on his person labeled with his name, the name of his physician, instructions for use, the pharmacy that supplied it and the medical services provider shall see that the medication is continued as prescribed without missed doses. At intake, each new inmate shall sign or fill out a form naming his or her doctors and insurance companies, if any, and designating a third party who should be contacted if the inmate develops a serious health problem. Listing a third party shall not cause that person to become financially responsible for the inmate’s medical care or other expenses. Any inmate arriving from another facility such as a federal prison, shall be required to have their medical file with them at admission. Federal authorities who routinely send inmates to Delaware’s correctional system shall be informed that a medical file must be sent with them or the inmate must be able to supply the address and password for a computer site where a Delaware nurse can access his or her medical file from another system immediately. During the intake process, the medical services provider shall be responsible for taking a DNA swab from the prisoner’s mouth. Saliva shall be taken to test for HIV or AIDS, and unless the prisoners can identify a recent blood test for the following illnesses or he or she is in a physical or mental condition that causes testing to be contraindicated at that time, he or she shall have blood drawn to check for hepatitis B and C, and bacterial meningitis. A tuberculosis skin test shall be administered and a follow up check done. Tests for sexually transmitted diseases that may be transmitted through contact with toilets shall be conducted before the prisoner is placed in quarters with other inmates. Once test results are available, the new inmate’s drug allergies have been checked, a medical history has been obtained, and the inmate’s condition has been evaluated, if inoculations are not contraindicated, the new inmate shall be given a course of inoculations against hepatitis B and C, flu, and other inoculations against illnesses commonly found, or known to be present, in the correctional system. The inoculations shall not be given all at once. The results of a test under this section shall not be admissible against the person tested in any federal or state civil or criminal case or proceeding. Any indication that a psychological evaluation should be done shall be followed up as soon as possible with appropriate testing. Before testing instruments are selected, to avoid a false outcome for a test, the psychologist shall be responsible for learning whether or not the inmate has been tested within the Department or in a facility of the Department of Health and Social Services previously using the same tests. He may learn this information from the inmate or check State records. Both departments shall keep records of their psychological testing of patients and inmates in computer files so that such information can be retrieved by the appropriate authorized individuals from either department as needed.

(n) From the time of intake, all medical records of an inmate shall be kept in a manner that will permit auditing. Whether the record is made by computer or hard copy, duplicates of all records shall be required. One shall be filed for the medical services

provider and one shall be sent to the Department’s administrator of medical services. All complaints about medical care or the lack of it from inmates shall also be sent to the DOC administrator in addition to going through the grievance process.

(o) During any transition from one correctional facility to another or upon placement in the care of DHSS, all inmates shall be entitled to have sufficient medications and records transported with them to insure that their medical needs are met during the transition period.

(p) Upon intake, any prisoner who has been identified as suicidal may not be left alone until placed on an appropriate ward. A person shall be considered suicidal if he or she has made recent threats to take his or her life or to do an act which would

result in death or if he or she has recently related stories of suicidal ideation to anyone and the intake officer or accompanying police officer knows of the threats or ideation. The Department shall have at least one cell block in each county for suicidal

inmates, and it shall be staffed twenty-four hours a day with adequate and specially trained staff including sufficient correctional officers to provide frequent monitoring of cells, counseling, nutritional supplements, some limited television equipment, easy

access to social workers and adequate windows to insure inmates see sunshine as much as possible. The suicide cell block may be a part of the mental health ward of a facility. All mental health wards shall be designed to provide adequate sunshine and shall be operated to address the nutritional needs of patients as nutrition relates to the biochemical imbalances that the mentally ill often experience. The medical services provider shall employ, or have available as a consultant, a person with a doctorate in nutrition with a specialty in the relationship of behavioral biochemistry to diet. The recovery of normal function in inmates who are mentally ill and serving short terms or nearing the end of time to be served shall be a goal of the Department and the medical services provider because it will benefit the State by lessening the need for future expenditures caused by recycling mentally ill persons between State institutions. No inmate who has recently threatened suicide or who has recently attempted suicide may be transferred to any DOC facility without a suicide cell block or ward. No inmate who is mentally ill may be released without being provided the assistance of a social worker who shall help find a place for the person to live if the inmate has no income and lacks family support. The worker shall insure that the inmate receives disability payments if eligible for them or that the person has job interviews or training to go to after release if he or she can work. Information on how to visit the nearest office of the State Department of Labor shall be provided and a contact made with rehabilitation or other specialists at the Department of Labor who can assist with a job search or training. The social worker shall assist in arranging an appointment with the Community Mental Health Center nearest the inmate’s future residence to insure counseling is available. Upon release, an impoverished mentally ill inmate without family assistance shall be supplied with his or her daily medication if the inmate is taking any regularly, along with a prescription for three months worth of additional medication to be supplied at State expense by a contract pharmacy chain. If an inmate needs medication and is unable to self-medicate due to the potential for harm to him or herself, the inmate shall be transferred to the Delaware Psychiatric Center or the nearest State Mental Health Clinic for evaluation unless his family or other resources can provide for private mental health services. If an inmate requires public or private hospitalization, the Department shall transport him or her to the correct hospital upon his or her release. Any inmate who is seriously mentally or physically ill shall be entitled to increased visitation privileges with family or friends. The minimum number of hours per week of visits permitted for any inmate not currently being penalized for misconduct while incarcerated shall be eight. Inmates shall not be subjected to pat down searches by correctional officers of the opposite sex except in an emergency situation where no officer of the same sex can be made available in time to deal with the emergency. No inmate shall remain shackled for more than two hours unless a determination has been made that his or her medical condition will safely permit such control measures and/or such punishment has been made necessary by the inmate’s behavior. All inmates shall be given an orientation to the rules, plans and expectations of the Department concerning his or her residency as soon as possible after intake.

The State Police shall send to mental health agencies providing treatment to inmates or patients who have been incarcerated criminal histories of their patients upon request. Staff members who have access to these criminal histories shall maintain the confidentiality of the information except in an emergency where the safety of a staff member is involved.

(q) The standards promulgated under the authority found in Subsection (a) shall be a matter of public record.

(r) The medical services provider shall send the Department’s administrator of medical services and the Medical Society of Delaware’s Prison Health Committee for purposes of review a record of all deaths of inmates within three days of the passing of any inmate in the Department’s correctional facilities. Recommendations by the Prison Health Committee for changes in medical or sanitation procedures in the correctional system or a need for an investigation of the acts of medical services providers shall be made by the Prison Health Committee to the Department’s administrator of medical services, the Council on Corrections, and the Chairpersons of the House and Senate Corrections Committees.

(s) The files of the medical services provider shall be kept in a manner permitting auditing at any time by the Department’s administrator of medical services. The medical services provider shall immediately report to the administrator any data indicating new strains of illness, toxic exposure, food poisoning, or an epidemic requiring no routine action on the part of the Department. Inmate grievances regarding medical care shall be sent to the Department’s administrator of medical services within two (2) hours of their being filed.

(t) Any medical services provider who contracts with the Department shall provide people hired from the former medical services provider the same benefits previously provided. However, pension contributions now controlled by the current medical services provider and all future pension contributions to these employees shall be made to the Treasurer of the State of Delaware to maintain a pension fund which shall be continued for these employees as long as they work for a medical services provider under contract to the State of Delaware and for the State.

(u) Failure by the medical services provider to produce the information required or to perform the services mandated by this Code shall be considered a breach of contract for which the Department shall receive liquidated damages. No future contract for medical services between a medical services provider and the Department shall be valid unless the contract was made after the Department advertised and received more than one request for a proposal and the contract contains a provision for liquidated damages for breaches of specific sections of the contract and this law. The administrator of medical services shall develop contract language for future contracts with medical services providers permitting the Department to assess liquidated damages for failures of performance by the provider.

(v) The administrator of the medical treatment contract shall provide training to the new medical services provider on Departmental procedures and State law relating to their services. The administrator may order the medical services provider to remove personnel who fail to perform their duties to the standards of their profession. He or she may refer the professional to the Prison Health Committee of the Delaware Medical Society for advice or discipline. The administrator may insist that one of all of the medical service provider’s staff members attend training sessions he or she feels are necessary to improve their job performance or inform them of new procedures mandated by State law. The administrator of the medical services contract may cancel the contract at any time he or she has reason to believe the medical services provider is in material breach of the contract and the medical care they give inmates has become inadequate. The administrator must consult with the Department’s legal advisor before sending notice to the medical services provider and arrangements in compliance with these laws must be made for the Department to make the transition to a new service provider without disruption of care for inmates.

(w) The Department’s medical services provider shall employ video diagnostic equipment for any facility which is not covered twenty-four hours a day by a nurse.

(y) Because neurological damage to humans can result from the presence of mold and toxic chemicals in quarters where they live and work, the Department must remove promptly and properly dispose of or destroy all materials in which mold or toxic chemicals have become embedded. It shall see that materials or surfaces that can be cleaned are promptly cleaned. If inmate labor is used to do the removal or cleaning, the inmates shall be thoroughly protected by safety equipment, boots and clothing appropriate for the circumstances.”

Section 3. All inmates residing in the Department of Corrections’ facilities on July 30, 2006, shall be tested for the human immunodeficiency virus, AIDS, hepatitis B and C, and tuberculosis unless they were tested in the preceding 6 months or they have been inoculated against these diseases.

Section 4. The Department of Corrections, the Department of Health and Social Services, and the Joint Finance Committee shall continue to study means to prevent the cycling of mentally ill citizens of Delaware between facilities of these departments due to release of individuals in need of supportive assistance with no preparation or planning for aftercare. They shall report back to the General Assembly on their conclusions within six months following the passage of this bill. It is the intent of the General Assembly that cost savings for the State be found by investing in, and obtaining grants to develop, new programs that will assist inmates and those people who can function but are mentally ill to become productive persons and to temporarily support them into a secure work and living environment to prevent their return to an expensive correctional or mental health facility in the future. To this end, sources of grants such as the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Council of State Governments should be identified and accessed by both departments to the fullest extent as soon as possible.

Section 5. The provisions of this Act shall be severable. If any shall be found to be unconstitutional, those that may take effect without the null and void sections shall remain in full force and effect.

Section 6. Any provision of this Act which will interfere with the current contract of the Department’s medical services provider shall not take affect until the current contract expires.