Challenges of Housing The Mentally Ill

Do you believe that mentally ill inmates receive adequate care in the correction facility? Why or why not? Support your reasoning with the answers from the interview.

Despite several courts’ rulings mandating adequate access to health care in correctional facilities (the mandates are more limited to serious and severe treatment of mental illness in prisons), the mentally ill inmates’ access to mental health care has not been regular (MARIN COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY, 2017). Often treatment decisions are dependent on the limited resources available, correctional treatment public support, and the decisions of the prison management. Previous studies have reported that at least fifty percent of male inmates and seventy-five percent of female inmates showed signs of mental health illness compared to nine percent of the general population. These rates lay down the essentiality of accessing treatment for inmates with such conditions precisely when the finances are inadequate for treatment and correctional intervention.

The primary form of treatment for mentally ill inmates is drugs, and only upon the willingness to take them. No group or individual psychotherapy is offered to them by professionals (TREATMENT ADVOCACY CENTER, 2016). There is also a lack of occupational therapy as well as a lack of educational, social, or recreational time. If an inmate requests a visit from a professional, the consultation will be done through the door of the cell, which lacks privacy; it is not scheduled regularly, nor is it structured. Across the U.S., mentally ill inmates’ treatment in segregated facilities is very deficient. The services of mental health to the general population of the prison are limited, but it is worse for the segregated ones. The staff meant to attend to the segregated are too few, and the majority of them end up undertreated or even untreated due to the claim that they are manipulating the symptoms to get released from segregation.

The Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution mentions cruel and unusual punishment. Based on your interview and readings, is inadequate care for mentally ill inmates considered cruel and unusual punishment?

The mentally ill inmates’ rights are set out in several statutes but initially originate from the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which states, “No excessive bail should be imposed, nor unusual and cruel infliction of punishment (O’Keefe, 2008).” The injunction against unusual and cruel punishment is explained in an extensive legal action, a detailed jurisprudence description related to the issue at hand. In California, essential verdicts related to mentally ill inmates’ rights have been decided in several cases in courts that were initially filed in the year 1990 and are currently known as Coleman v. Brown. In such cases, the ruling of various courts has stated that the California jails’ treatment of those with mental illness has violated the rights of the latter as stipulated in the Eighth Amendment regarding the use of force, overcrowding, segregation, and disciplinary measures and more importantly, according to the courts, segregating the mentally ill is harmful.

Further, California prisons have failed to provide adequate care for the mentally ill. This is due to treatment beds shortage, suicidal inmates at times are held for more extended periods in small-sized cages with no toilets, and one psychiatric expert has reported that he observed an inmate held there for almost twenty-four hours, nearly catatonic and not responsive (Nadeau, 2007). The officials claimed that they “lacked a place to put him.” There is a problem with regard to segregating the mentally ill, which is a determinant of the unusual and cruel punishment in Correctional facilities. In particular, it is noted that according to experts, mental illness is only worsened by isolation, and inmate segregation is gambling.

When considering the cost comparison between mentally ill inmates and non-mentally ill inmates, does the housing of the mentally ill burden the budget of corrections? How does it affect the efficiency of the department?

The cost of the inmates who are mentally ill is high compared to other inmates for various reasons, such as an increased need for staff (Nadeau, 2007). In the year 2007, Broward County, Florida, reported that it cost eighty dollars in twenty-four hours to house a regular prisoner and one hundred and thirty dollars to house a mentally ill inmate. In the year 2003, Texas prisons reported that the costs of ordinary prisoners amounted to twenty-two thousand dollars per annum, and mentally ill inmates cost the state thirty thousand to fifty thousand dollars per annum. Psychiatric treatment is a fundamental part of such high costs.

According to the Justice Department, an estimated about fifteen million dollars of the taxpayers’ money is directed towards housing mentally ill inmates, translating into fifty thousand dollars per prisoner yearly (MARIN COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY, 2017). Despite the treatment of mental health standards put by the federal state, most facilities’ resources vary across regions based on inmates’ illnesses and breakdown, location, and trainable staff availability. For instance, in the L.A County Jail, an estimated ten million dollars was spent on psychiatric care in the year 2001, whereas, in the year 2005, sixty-seven million dollars was spent for the same course in Ohio. Also, the variance of the cost is based on the kind of medication and treatment demanded in certain prisons; for instance, in the year 2000, Ohio’s Cuyahoga County Jail spent one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars on olanzapine and Zyprexa alone.

By the year 2002, in Broward County, Florida, mentally ill inmates got sentences that averaged twelve months longer than their regular counterparts (TREATMENT ADVOCACY CENTER, 2016). Incarcerating the mentally ill contributes hugely to the overcrowding issue in correctional facilities. Many a time, when the relatives of the mentally ill are not able to give adequate care to them, they resort to jailing the individual. A sentence of violation that keeps a regular individual in prison for a single night keeps a person who is mentally ill in jail for up to one year, raising their housing costs to thousands more than it is supposed to be.

Provide suggestions to reduce the recidivism of mentally ill inmates

In September 2012, the CSG Justice Center released a framework known as Adults with Behavioral Health Needs under Correctional Supervision (O’Keefe, 2008). This framework was intended to reduce recidivism and promote recovery. This strategy was established in partnership with several organizations, including the Association of State Correctional Administrators, the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors, and the American Probation and Parole Association.

This strategy introduced an evidence-based framework to prioritize scarce resources in assessing the risk of individuals committing future crimes as well as their support needs and treatment (TREATMENT ADVOCACY CENTER, 2016). Also, the report highlights the practices and principles of mental health, abuse of substances, and correction systems. It also proposes a framework for local and state agencies to create a collaborative response. This framework is based on the following dimensions: criminogenic risk, the need for treating substance abuse, and the need for treating the mentally ill. This framework results in eight modifications of various groupings of risk and need. Identifying each group’s size helps those who plan the systems understand the capacity of the treatment and supervision and identify any existing gaps (TREATMENT ADVOCACY CENTER, 2016). A consistent study on the reduction of recidivism helps in focusing resources on higher-need and higher-risk populations. Such information also facilitates designed interventions for every individual.

The strategy calls for experts to assess an individual’s needs of mental health separate from reoffending risks (Nadeau, 2007). Reliance on an actuarial assessment and the best scientific methodologies available helps the experts to match the appropriate individual to the necessary intervention. Also, it underscores that rehabilitation and recovery can be achieved and advocates for resource reallocation where they are most effective and efficient. This framework has helped professionals in the systems of behavioral health and correctional facilities in the following ways:

It has advanced communication and collaboration on challenging issues traditionally viewed differently by each system by the development of a common language around criminal activity risks and needs of public health.
Establishment of shared priorities between behavioral health systems and criminal justice for people who are at risk of committing crimes in the future and need treatment.
Underscore the need to share information throughout the systems.
Create a shared starting point and facilitate cross-system practice, policy, and decision-making support.

References

MARIN COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY. (2017). Care of Mentally Ill Inmates in Marin County Jail. Marine County.

Nadeau, A. M. (2007). A STUDY OF MENTAL ILLNESS AS A CAUSAL FACTOR N RECIDIVISM AMONG ADULT INMATES AT THE ADULT CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF RHODES ISLAND. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.ric.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=honors_projects

O’Keefe, M. L. (2008). Administrative Segregation for Mentally Ill Inmates. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation , 149-165.

TREATMENT ADVOCACY CENTER. (2016). Serious Mental Illness Prevalence in Jails and Prisons. Retrieved from treatmentadvocacycenter.org: http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/evidence-and-research/learn-more-about/3695

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Question

Challenges of Housing The Mentally Ill

Week 5 – Assignment – Conduct an Interview to Explore the Challenges of Housing the Mentally Ill

Instructions

Contact your local jail at the sheriff’s office or state prison to schedule an interview with a corrections officer or administrator. The interview can be performed in person, over the phone, or via Skype. You can also e-mail the questions if requested. Ask the following questions and take notes during your conversation:

Does the jail/prison maintain a separate block/unit for mentally ill inmates?
What is the total number of inmates housed in the facility?
How many mentally ill inmates are housed in the facility?
Does the jail/prison provide psychological and psychiatric care for these inmates?
Do mentally ill inmates receive evaluations by psychologists or psychiatrists?
What is the cost of the care of each mentally ill inmate compared to the cost of a non-mentally ill inmate?
What is the recidivism rate of mentally ill inmates? In other words, how many times has the same inmate been re-arrested?
What are the crimes committed by mentally ill inmates?

Evaluate the obtained data and then develop an action plan that offers solutions and recommendations to improve the care of mentally ill inmates in prisons and jails. Base your solutions and recommendations on the results of your interview, this week’s readings, and your own research. Be sure to include answers to the following research questions, along with the data collected during the interview:

Do you believe that mentally ill inmates receive adequate care in the correction facility? Why or why not? Support your reasoning with the answers from the interview.
The Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution mentions cruel and unusual punishment. Based on your interview and readings, is inadequate care for mentally ill inmates considered cruel and unusual punishment?
When considering the cost comparison between mentally ill inmates and non-mentally ill inmates, does the housing of the mentally ill burden the budget of corrections? How does it affect the efficiency of the department?
Provide suggestions to reduce the recidivism of mentally ill inmates.

Support your assignment with at least three scholarly resources. In addition to these specified resources, other appropriate scholarly resources, including older articles, may be included.

Challenges of Housing The Mentally Ill