A Yorkton, Sask. family went to the Saskatchewan Legislative Building to plead for help for their intellectually challenged daughter on Tuesday. Twenty-five-year-old Jessica Stuckey has the mental capacity of a seven-year-old but is being held in an adult psychiatric hospital. The family would like to see her placed in a group home and believes a psychiatric hospital is the wrong place for her. Stuckey was placed in the Pine Grove Correctional Centre for a month before being moved to a psychiatric hospital in North Battleford, Sask. after displaying inappropriate behaviour. “She was uttering threats and then they also charged her with mischief for phoning the police and phoning mental health and going to the emergency room wanting help,” Jessica’s mother Barb Stuckey said. The Saskatchewan NDP slammed the system for its treatment of people with intellectual disabilities. “This story is shocking but what is more shocking and disturbing is that the Sask. Party government was aware of everything that was happening every step of the way,” NDP MLA Meara Conway said. The provincial government said it can’t talk about the case specifically but wants Jessica and her family to know it understands their concerns. The Stuckey’s want their daughter placed in a group home operated by Creative Options Regina. It is providing specialized treatment for 90 people with cognitive challenges but lacks government funding to assist more. “I challenge the Minister of Social Services to provide one good reason not to step in and fund this woman in an appropriate agency,” Conway said. Jessica Stuckey has been declared unfit to stand trial. A review board is currently determining her fate and is expected to recommend that she be held at the psychiatric hospital until an appropriate placement can be made.
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