Placing mentally disabled in Kentucky's personal care homes violates law ...

The personal care home issues are just a tiny pin dot in comparison to the magnitude of issues for people suffering with serious and persistent mental illness, SPMI in Kentucky. Thanks to the Lexington Herald-Leader for bringing awareness to these problems. We must first attempt to educate Kentuckians of the waste in tax payers dollars and the inhumanity of how people with SPMI are forced to exist. Change is needed!   

GG Burns, KY Mental Health Advocate

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/03/19/2117925/placing-mentally-disabled-in-personal.html#storylink=cpy

By: Valarie Honeycutt Spears and Beth Musgrave — vhoneycutt@herald-leader.com

Posted: 7:53pm on Mar 19, 2012; Modified: 12:19am on Mar 20, 2012

FRANKFORT — The continued placement of mentally ill residents in Kentucky's personal care homes is a violation of federal disability laws, a watchdog state agency said Monday.

Kentucky's personal care homes unfairly segregate people with disabilities from the community, denying residents their right to interact with non-disabled people to the fullest extent possible, according to a report by Kentucky Protection and Advocacy. The group is an independent state agency that protects and promotes the rights of people with disabilities.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/03/19/2117925/placing-mentally-disabled-in-personal.html#storylink=cpy

You can read the article in its entirety here :http://www.kentucky.com/2012/03/19/2117925/placing-mentally-disabled-in-personal.html

TAC speaks out of HUD's response about the homeless.

An interesting exchange took place on The Daily Show when comedian Jon Stewart interviewed with Shaun Donovan, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) about homelessness.

"Between shelters, emergency rooms and jails, he told Stewart, it costs “about $40,000 in "tax payers dollars" a year to have a homeless person on the streets.” 

for more info read the articles here:

http://treatmentadvocacycenter.org/about-us/our-blog/69-no-state/2046-jon-stewart-getting-it-hud-not-so-sure

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I might add, it cost KY's tax payers around $30,000 a year to house these same individuals, (often suffering with untreated mental illness) in our jails or prisons.  It cost about $700 a day for these individuals to be in a state mental hospital.  KY's mental health budget hasn't increased in 14 years ~ so what is more humane? Would it be smarter to use these funds to help these individuals regain their life by treating their illness instead? Talk to your legislator about this and you'll be quick to learn that most are clueless of how these dollars are being spent or shall I say 'wasted'.  

I encourage you to re-post or at least think of this article the next time you think a homeless person isn't costing us money.  

Remember this article when you vote! GG  Burns, KY Mental Health Advocate

The PEW report on Kentucky

Over the past decade, Kentucky has had one of the fastest growing prison populations in the nation. Despite a decline during the past three years, the Commonwealth’s inmate population is 45 percent larger than it was at the start of the decade, compared with a 13 percent growth for the U.S. state prison system as a whole.  As a result of this growth, the Commonwealth’s spending on corrections has also increased. In FY 1990, general fund corrections spending in Kentucky totaled $140 million. In FY 2010, that amount was $440 million, an increase of 214 percent. Yet, the state’s recidivism rate is still high and remains above the levels from the late 1990s.

In 2010, to seek new ways to protect public safety while controlling the growth of prison costs, the legislature established a bipartisan, inter-branch Task Force. The Task Force conducted an extensive review of state data and issued recommendations from the Public Safety Performance Project and its partners.

In February of 2011, The Public Safety and Offender Accountability Act was introduced to implement this broad series of reforms, passing the Senate unanimously and the House by a vote of 96 to 1 before being signed into law by Governor Steve Beshear.  Overall, the new law ensures there is more prison space for violent and career criminals while helping to stop the revolving door for lower-risk, non-violent offenders. The Legislative Research Commission’s fiscal note estimates the reforms will bring gross savings of $422 million over 10 years. A portion of these savings will be reinvested in efforts to reduce recidivism, including strengthening probation and parole and programs for substance abusing offenders.  

The Pew Charitable Trusts applies the power of knowledge to solve today's most challenging problems. The Pew Center on the States identifies and advances state policy solution

State Work Resources

2011 Kentucky Reforms Cut Recidivism, Costs (PDF)
July 2011 | The Pew Center on the States

Kentucky: A Data-Driven Effort to Protect Public Safety and Control Corrections Spending
October 2010 | The Pew Center on the States | Full Brief (PDF) Errata (PDF)

News

News Article	Mar 26, 2011 - Bipartisan Effort Led to Kentucky Penal Code Reform
Press Release	Mar 03, 2011 - Pew Applauds Kentucky Leaders for Comprehensive Public Safety Reforms
Opinion Editorial	Mar 02, 2011 - Significant Accomplishment on Penal Reform
News Article	Mar 01, 2011 - Kentucky Senate Passes Corrections Reform Bill
News Article	Mar 01, 2011 - Beshear Will Sign Into Law a Sweeping Rewrite of State's Criminal Code
News Article	Feb 28, 2011 - Senate Approves Penal Code Changes

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