It's about time - Sheriff Tom Dart Considers Lawsuit Against the State of IL

It's about time "law enforcement" stakeholders across the US, stand up for 'change in the system'. GG Burns, KY Mental Health Advocate

In 1841, crusader Dorothea Dix sought help from the courts and legislators to end the plight of people with mental illnesses who were housed in unheated, unfurnished and foul-smelling jail cells.  "Nearly 200 years have passed and our jails have once again become the primary places where people with serious mental illnesses are housed," Quote from Miami-Dade County's Judge Steven Leifman, leader of Florida Partners in Crisis.

republished from the: HUFF POST, CHICAGO

 First Posted: 02/21/2012 5:53 pm Updated: 02/22/2012 2:15 pm 

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart says the county jail is so overwhelmed with people whose offenses are more attributable to mental health issues than criminal impulses that the facility has become a source of mental health care for the city, and he's sick of it.

Dart told the Chicago News Cooperative that the system "is so screwed up that I’ve become the largest mental health provider in the state of Illinois."

Of the 11,000 prisoners detained at Cook County Jail at any given time, Dart estimates that about 2,000 suffer from a serious form of mental illness, he told the CNC. At an estimated cost of about $143 per detainee per day, the overflow from the nearby state-run Elgin Mental Health Center, which can handle only 582 patients at a time, stands to put an undue burden on the jail's resources.  To read the entire article click here:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/21/cook-county-jail-a-mental_n_1291851.html

"1300-1400 people receive psychiatric treatment behind bars in the Cook County Jail. Minor crimes with major cost" ~ Ben Bradly

Ohio Sheriff closes jail to violent mentally ill to send a message of 'more treatment/less jails'

Bravo to an Ohio Sheriff willing to take a stand to make changes in the system.
Read this article about a law enforcement champion in our neighboring state.  I support Sheriff Alexander's decisions 100%.  Only problem: many states are closing their state funded mental hospitals!  If more county jails refused to allow people with severe mental illness to be 'housed inhumanely' and our state hospitals close ... will society finally be forced to take care of our most vulnerable with assisted outpatient treatment? Will we finally see the 'change' needed?  GG Burns, KY Mental Health Advocate

Read the entire article by: Rick Armon of The Akron Beacon Journal   
Published: February 13, 2012 - 12:00 AM | Updated: February 13, 2012 - 12:19 AM
Sheriff closes jail to violent mentally ill - Local - Ohio
 
"Sheriff Drew Alexander has long complained that housing the mentally ill and disabled in jail is inhumane, and they belong in a mental hospital where they can be better treated."

Senate panel approves bill calling for medical screenings for potential residents of personal care homes

Article reprinted by: Beth Musgrave and Valarie Honeycutt Spears — bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

Posted: 6:38pm on Feb 15, 2012; Modified: 3:19pm on Feb 16, 2012

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/02/15/2070238/bill-spawned-by-death-of-brain.html#storylink=cpy

FRANKFORT — Six months after a brain-injured Lebanon man disappeared from a Falmouth personal care home and died, a panel of lawmakers approved a bill Wednesday aimed at preventing similar deaths.  Read more on link below.

Read morehere: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/02/15/2070238/bill-spawned-by-death-of-brain.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.kentucky.com/2012/02/15/2070238/bill-spawned-by-death-of-brain.html

A Kentucky Father’s Cry for Help

By: Odell Dixon
 
When my daughter was 13-years old, she was diagnosed with a variety of mental illnesses beginning with obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, and then later Schizophrenia.  Over the years, the list has grown and so have our problems as a family. Even though my daughter is now 30 years old, due to her mental illness she often acts like a child.  


I am 66 years old with a history of stroke and other serious health conditions. I do not know how much longer I can keep up with caring for my daughter. This causes me great emotional stress each day of my life.  Because of my daughter’s mental illness, it is very difficult to maintain a relationship with her.
 
Sadly, she has been incarcerated four times due to her symptoms, from either not receiving the support she needs and/or not being on her medication. This last time my daughter served time in jail, she was placed on probation. The judge sent her to Eastern State hospital where she was held for 30 days, during which time she finally received the services and medication she desperately needed.  I try my best to keep her on medication so that she does not return to jail, but I cannot force her to take her meds. I am the one that drives her to the courthouse, pays her fines and outstanding bills as well as solving her other issues. This of course has resulted in a tremendous financial burden.
 
It is incomprehensible that my daughter once worked as a receptionist at a medical office, was married and managed a normal life. However, she failed to stay on medication and lost her job. Her mental illness worsen. Now, I never know what will happen next. Sometimes my daughter will ask to live with me, but then she will disappear for months at a time. I never know if she will end up in prison again. Or worse, that she might disappear from my life for good.  

My daughter is in great need of ‘mental health’ services that will provide her the help she needs to stay on her medications. When she was court ordered to Eastern State Hospital, the support and treatment she received helped. However, 30 days is not enough time.  As soon as my daughter was released she was back to her old ways. Jail is not the answer!  We should not have to resort to locking up people with mental illness; there should be a better way.
 
I am getting older and fear that when I’m gone my daughter will become homeless. I feel that if more was done to implement effective mental health services for those that are like my daughter they would have a chance at a normal life. More money is needed for support services and less for sending people like my daughter to jail or prison.  Please, help these individuals by providing what they need.  They do not need to be in jail and the money spent on sending and keeping them in jail is NOT effective treatment, but is a complete waste of taxpayers' money.
__________________________________________

Published and produced by friends of The ‘Change Mental Health Laws in Kentucky’ Project, February 2012. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED!

Kentucky's Medicaid Asks for Funding for Substance-abuse Treatment

By Beth Musgrave — bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

Feb 6, 2012

FRANKFORT — If the legislature approves, nearly 6,000 people could be treated for substance abuse under the state-federal program for the poor and disabled.

Kentucky is one of only seven states that does not offer substance-abuse treatment in its Medicaid program.

With the number of Kentuckians with substance-abuse problems on the rise, treating more people with addiction will improve people's health and the state's bottom line, said Stephen Hall, commissioner of the Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities.

The average cost of intensive outpatient drug addiction services is $2,500. An adult who is not treated costs the taxpayers more than $23,000 in prison and other costs, Hall said. 

Studies of Kentucky drug treatment programs show dramatic increases in the level of employment of people who successfully complete treatment, Hall said.

He testified Monday before a House budget subcommittee on health and human services. The expansion of the state's drug addiction services in the Medicaid program is one of several new spending items Gov. Steve Beshear has proposed in his two-year budget. Beshear has said that expanding drug treatment is key to tackling the state's drug epidemic. 

Beshear, at a news conference Monday, said that during the past 10 years, the number of people seeking treatment for addiction to pain killers has gone up 900 percent. According to federal statistics, more than 25,428 people were admitted to Kentucky drug and alcohol rehab programs in 2010. 

Beshear is asking for $11.6 million in the first year of the budget to serve about 4,500 people. He is asking for $14.9 million in the second year of the budget to serve an additional 1,300 people.

"All of the research shows that this is a smart thing to do," Hall said of the return on the investment.

He said Medicaid-eligible Kentuckians who have a mental illness and substance-abuse problems or who have substance abuse problems and custody of a minor child will have priority in the program. Those with serious addiction problems also will be treated. 

Teresa James, acting commissioner for the Department for Community Based Services, has said that the additional money for substance-abuse treatment would be key to helping fight child abuse. The state has too few drug treatment programs for parents accused of child abuse or neglect, James has told legislators. 

Hall said the state's community mental health centers already have community-based drug treatment programs that can be expanded to treat substance abuse if the legislature agrees to the funding increase.
Read more here:

http://www.kentucky.com/2012/02/06/2058381/medicaid-asks-for-additional-funding.html

Read more here:

 

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/02/06/2058381/medicaid-asks-for-additional-funding.html#storylink=cpy

Criminalization of People with Mental Illness, Viewpoints: Cuts to mental health programs shift burden to law enforcement

In the US, a person is much more likely to be arrested and sent to jail for having a severe mental illness, than sent to a mental health facility.  The author of this article puts it in plain English.

"Following the money, it is clear that incarcerating the seriously ill is often an easier alternative for underfunded mental health systems. Mental health treatment provided in jails and prisons is not funded by anemic mental health budgets, but instead paid for with more robust criminal justice dollars. While we are increasingly training law enforcement to better manage the severely mentally ill, we are simultaneously reducing mental health resources. This shifting of responsibility for the care of the mentally ill toward law enforcement and away from mental health systems is inappropriate, unjust and promotes the criminalization of this susceptible population.

What can we do"? Read the entire article by Gary Tsai here:

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/28/4221009/cuts-to-mental-health-programs.html