Rome, June 30 (LaPresse) – "The structural conditions of many institutions are inadequate," and "maintenance and renovation interventions are necessary. These interventions must be undertaken urgently, with the awareness that the space cannot be conceived solely as a place of custody, but must include environments dedicated to socialization, affection, and treatment planning. All this requires particular professional commitment, and I thank you for the dedication you put into your work."
This is what the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, said during a meeting at the Quirinale with the Head of the Department of Penitentiary Administration, Stefano Carmine De Michele, and a delegation of the Penitentiary Police on the occasion of the 208th anniversary of its establishment.
"Other difficulties, I know well, weigh on your duties and responsibilities. These difficulties also involve other institutions. The shortage of staff, which has long been a critical condition of the penitentiary system and affects the Corps and all operators: I think of the serious lack of educators, the difficult access to healthcare within institutions, especially for inmates with mental health problems. It is necessary for penitentiary institutions to be equipped with new and more adequate professional figures. Otherwise, your task will inevitably become heavier and burdened by an improper overload of functions that should be entrusted to others," Mattarella added.