Maine is sending psychiatric patients to a controversial South Carolina hospital despite complaints

Justin Butterfield was supposed to see his children later this month.

Butterfield, 35, has schizophrenia and according to her family, part of her treatment includes medication and regular contact with her two children.

“His children are very important,” said Yaicha Provencher, the mother of his children. “That’s what keeps him grounded.”

He had been receiving treatment at Riverview Psychiatric Center since February after he was found not guilty of killing his brother during a mental health crisis. Like many others in Maine with similar convictions, Butterfield is in state custody until they believe he is no longer a danger to himself or others.

But on Tuesday, Provencher learned that Butterfield had been transferred to the District of Columbia Care Center, a for-profit facility more than a thousand miles away in South Carolina.

He was surprised when the manager at Riverview said Butterfield was fired because employees believed he was threatening them and refusing to take his medication.

Provencher and the children had just seen Butterfield on Zoom less than 24 hours earlier, he said in a phone interview Tuesday.

Now, she is not sure how she will talk to Butterfield and what information she will be given about her treatment. Worse, she fears her condition will worsen without finding her children, whom she calls every night and has only seen twice this summer.

Riverview declined to comment on Butterfield’s case, but a spokeswoman previously said they reserve use of the South Carolina facility for patients who have “exhibited high levels of violence” or assaulted staff and other patients.

However, Provencher said that Butterfield did not attack anyone. Some worry that this could set a disturbing precedent.

John Nutting, a former state senator who said he is a member of Riverview’s civil rights committee, said in a phone interview Friday that he “hasn’t seen a single case before this where someone taken to South Carolina without hurting anyone.”

“This is unusual in many cases,” he said.

COMPLIANCE SUPPORT

Butterfield is one of about a dozen Maine men sent to the South Carolina facility in the past decade. Since 2015, the government has spent millions of dollars on annual contracts.

Residents, their families, attorneys and other advocates shared their concerns about the facility with the Press Herald in June, likening the District of Columbia Correctional Facility to a prison.

Because Columbia doesn’t use federal Medicare or Medicaid money, it can use corrections officers, physical restraints and solitary confinement — all prison-like tactics that Riverview has been criticized for using for the past 10 years . Others were also concerned that two men from Maine had died while at Columbia: Anthony Reed in December and James Staples in 2018.

Despite these concerns, Riverview continues to send patients to Columbia and the state is in the process of renewing its contract with the facility.

Maine Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Lindsay Hammes said she would not provide a copy of the new contract because they are still finalizing it, but it will begin July 1.

Hammes said DHHS “always considers the best interests of those we serve when making contract decisions” and “continues to consult with Columbia Regional Care Center to ensure our standards are met.”

The last deal, which ended on June 30, cost the state about $1.3 million to maintain six beds. Some mental health professionals have questioned whether the money is being spent properly.

Hannah Longley, director of the advocacy and crisis clinic at the Maine chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said the state continues to have a “significant lack” of local mental health treatment options. mind.

“We want to build a strong mental health system here, so we don’t have to deport our neighbors,” Longley said.

He pointed to the shortage of crisis workers and providers, including psychiatrists, which is particularly acute in rural areas.

Butterfield is from Poland, a rural area outside of Lewiston where Provencher once said he felt haunted by his own emotional and unresolved feelings for years before he was charged with murder.

Nutting and Provencher are also members of the Maine chapter of the National Shattering Silence Coalition, a group focused on developing strategies to help those with serious brain disorders, such as schizophrenia.

Both talked about Butterfield’s case and how Maine’s mental health resources failed to help him before it was too late.

He said at a press conference in December 2022 that Butterfield was hospitalized eight times over a three-year period and once set fire to a building where he thought children were being tortured and led police on a high-speed chase. and higher, according to a Sun Journal report. .

‘REQUIRED TO USE’

On Friday, Provencher said he was able to speak briefly with Butterfield for the first time since his transfer. He told her that Riverview had changed his antipsychotic medication, and that he was simply refusing to take the drugs because he wanted to go back to his original medication.

“(Butterfield) really felt like he wasn’t taking the medication (they) prescribed him because it wasn’t working,” Provencher said.

He added: “And to be honest, I was able to have a deep and intelligent conversation with him. For someone who is said to be violent and not taking his medication, and is said to be so violent that he couldn’t stay at Riverview…

Provencher said he spoke with Riverview Superintendent Stephanie George-Roy twice this week, who assured him that Butterfield did not hurt anyone.

George-Roy did not return a call Friday seeking comment on Butterfield’s case and why he was sent to South Carolina. Hammes said DHHS would not discuss individual patients, citing privacy laws.

Provencher said he asked George-Roy why Riverview hasn’t started the process of getting a court order for Butterfield’s treatment plan, which requires Butterfield to take his medication.

Nutting was also confused as to why Riverview had not started the process. He said in his experience, it’s not uncommon for Riverview to send a patient out of state before doing so.

Provencher said he also spoke with a social worker in Columbia, who said Butterfield was allowed one toll-free phone call a week. She said Riverview offered to help pay Columbia so she and her children could call Butterfield more.

Butterfield has only been there a few days, she said, but has been allowed out of her room a few times. He also told her that there were cockroaches in his room.

TAKE PROTECTION

Kevin Voyvodich, an attorney for Disability Rights Maine, said the organization is concerned about the rights of out-of-state patients.

He declined to comment on any individual cases, including Butterfield, instead pointing broadly to the lack of due process rights for patients at risk of being deported. country.

Riverview is legally required to notify the judge, but otherwise the agency is allowed to make its own decision. There are no rules on how long a person can stay in South Carolina and when they can return. It is up to DHHS to determine what constitutes “correct placement.”

Voyvodich said he is concerned about having Maine patients in a facility governed by different state laws.

He said: “People don’t have the same protection that they would have, if they were in the government.”

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