Transcript Slide 1
The Criminalization of Mental Illness:
Crisis & Opportunity for the Justice System
Risdon N. Slate, Ph.D.
Professor of Criminology
Florida Southern College
Prevalence of Mental Illness in the
Criminal Justice System
• Jails and prisons in the U.S. hold three times more persons
with mental illness than do psychiatric hospitals in America
(Human Rights Watch Report, 2003).
• Jails comprise the 3 largest inpatient psychiatric facilities in
the country.
• Estimates are that around 16 percent of jail and prison
populations in the U.S. are comprised of persons with mental
illness (Ditton, 1999). (Compare to James & Glaze, 2006
BJS/DOJ study).
Deinstitutionalization
• “Mental illness is not a choice. It is a medical
disease.” (Greenberg, 2001, p. 43).
The Sequential Intercept Model
viewed as a series of filters
Source: Munetz, Mark and Griffin, Patricia. “Use of the Sequential Intercept Model as an Approach to
Decriminalization of People With Serious Mental Illness.” (2006) Psychiatric Services 57:544-549.
Criminal Justice System Responses
• Law Enforcement (CIT, CSOs and Mobile Crisis)
• Mental Health Courts
• Discharge Planning: Diversion & Re-entry
The True Solution Lies In More And Better
Mental Health Services
• Evidence based practices, including:
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Assertive Community Treatment (aka FACT)
Integrated mental health/substance abuse treatment.
Supported Employment
Supportive Housing
• Peer services and supports
• Acute care beds and/or crisis stabilization services
Does Diversion Work?
• Does It Save Money?
• Does it Reduce Crime?
• Does it Help the People Intended to
Benefit?
As noted by Kathryn Power of SAMHSA, Lord Kelvin, a Scottish
Mathematician of the 1800s, once said:
“When you can measure what you
are speaking about, and express it
in numbers, then you know
something about it; but when you
cannot measure it, when you
cannot express it in numbers, your
knowledge is of a meager and
unsatisfactory kind.”
2007 RAND STUDY
Allegheny County, PA
Total Cost Savings of
$9,584.00
per participant
for a
½ Million Dollar Savings
Over 2 Years
Cost Savings
Program
Jail/Hospital costs per person
DURING
# of
involvement
PRIOR to
Particiinvolvement (plus program
pants
cost)
Threshold
s Jail
Program 30 (two
years)
(Cook
County,
IL)
Project
Link
44 (one
(Monroe
year)
County,
NY)
Cost
savings
per
person
$53, 897
$35,024
$18,873
$73,878
$34,360
$39,518
Source: Criminal Justice Mental Health Consensus Project
California’s AB 2034 Program
Three County Data (Annualized)
12 Months
Prior to
Enrollment
Since
Enrollment
205,992
63,764
60,438
9,287
10,906
2,435
Days Homeless
Days
Incarcerated
Days
Hospitalized
Source – National GAINS Center
Crises Often Drive Policy In The Justice
System
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Crisis Intervention Training – Memphis PD
Eugene Gregory & Alan Singletary
Aaron Wynn
Brad H.
Andrew Goldstein
Seung-Hui Cho
Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (Parity)
Crisis in Mandarin Chinese:
Hippocrates
• “A wise man should consider that health is the
greatest of human blessings, and learn how by
his own thought to derive benefit from his
illnesses.”