MENTAL ILLNESS AND INCARCERATION
By Kermit Klaerner
For the past one and one-half years, the Jail Diversion Task Force has been meeting to find solutions to a growing national and community problem: the incarceration of persons with mental illnesses who have run afoul of the law. The offense (in most instances a misdemeanor) occurs not because of a criminal mind, but because of the mental illness.
As in other communities across the United States, Abilene needs a means for diverting persons with mental illnesses away from the criminal justice system into community-based, integrated mental health and substance abuse services. It has been stated that “when police end up caring for the mentally ill, it’s almost always a sign that the system has failed.” Statistics also show that about sixty percent of mentally ill people brought in by law enforcement resolve their crises within 24 hours; yet they find themselves incarcerated and facing criminal charges because of their illness, sometimes charges as simple as “trespassing.”
Most of the situations can be resolved prior to an actual arrest, if an effective jail diversion program is implemented. Many times the solution is as simple as getting the offender back on his/her prescribed medications which may take as little as two to three days to take effect. Instead the individual may be charged with an offense and spend six months to one year incarcerated and awaiting a hearing. Recent studies indicate that many persons with mental illnesses remain incarcerated twice as long as other offenders. This occurs many times because these individuals do not have the ability to address the problems caused by being incarcerated. They may not currently be on medication, and therefore are functioning at a lower level than other inmates, or because they do not have outside contacts or resources to facilitate their release while awaiting a hearing.
The Jail Diversion Task Force has a plan in place. The problem? Funding! In order to implement the plan, the community needs to obtain funding resources in the amount of approximately $300,000 annually. This sounds like a lot of money, but by implementing the program, savings in other areas will occur. Taylor County will save about $28.80 per day if they do not have to house these individuals in county facilities. One individual with a mental illness was incarcerated for approximately a year before being released to appropriate community services. If this person had been diverted, the County would have saved $10,512 ($28.80 per day for 365 days). This figure does not include the average daily cost of $10.20 for medications.
The average daily number of inmates with mental illnesses currently being housed by Taylor County in the jail is ten (probably a conservative figure). If most of these individuals could be diverted to existing community services prior to incarceration, a large savings would be realized. For instance, if the average population of inmates with mental illnesses could be reduced by ten, then a savings of over $125,000 would result. In addition to this savings, there would also be savings in the areas of time spent by law enforcement officials in making arrests, administrative time spent processing records, and the cost of judicial proceedings.
However, the main issue is the humane treatment of persons with mental illnesses. By diverting persons with mental illnesses into appropriate services within the community, the individuals will be stabilized and become self-reliant sooner and will also avoid having a criminal record because of their illnesses.
The Jail Diversion Task Force will be looking for community resources (especially funding sources) in order to make the plans developed during the past one and one half years a reality.
Incarceration is not an acceptable alternative to professional integrated mental health and substance abuse treatment. Our jails should not be “holding cells” for persons with mental illnesses just because there are no other options.