Mental illness and incarceration matter always

In Maine, up to 25 percent of inmates are in mental health therapy or counseling programs. The Department of Justice estimates that in Maine, approximately 20 percent of state inmates receive psychotropic medication, which is among the highest in the nation.

In their final report to the State of Maine 120th Legislature in 2001, the Committee to Study the Needs of Persons with Mental Illness who are Incarcerated found that community mental health services are lacking the resources to meet the needs of persons with mental illness who are incarcerated. The committee, which consisted of the members of the Joint Standing Committee of Criminal Justice, found that there is a need for more standardized assessment in jails as well as a need to improve treatment capacity and crisis response. Also, discharge planning and aftercare needs to be to improved, and state to county partnerships need to be linked more effectively.

They found that county jails are not well designed to provide treatment to persons with mental illness, and that individuals with serious mental illness should be diverted to more appropriate settings. With so many needs being unmet, recidivism is likely: inadequate treatment and inadequate planning for release can lead to a person leaving jail or prison with no job, no financial resources, no home, and a worsening of their condition.

This month, the Legislature passed LD 2068, An Act Relating to the Treatment of Persons with Mental Illness Who are Incarcerated, which was supposed to carry out the recommendations of the committee. Unfortunately, the General Fund appropriations were cut from the original bill by $5,846,269, as well as the elimination of the Federal Expenditures Fund allocation. What remains is $65,000 to fund a single county jail mental illness treatment pilot project. This pilot program will be designed by a stakeholder group, and once created, will provide increased mental health services to the county jail population.

This pilot project is a wonderful first step in implementing the recommendations of the Committee to Study the Needs of Persons with Mental Illness who are incarcerated; however, many important provisions in the bill were eliminated due to the cuts from appropriations. These cuts eliminated a proposed expansion of ride-along programs, the establishment of a diversion program in the courts, mental illness awareness training to those working in the criminal justice system, a criminal justice liaison, an ombudsman for mentally ill inmates, positions to undertake mental health screenings, positions to provide mental health services to inmates, and forensic training of case management and community supportive services.

These services that were cut would have been essential to fulfilling the committee’s recommendations from their extensive study of mental illness and incarceration. That is why during the next legislature, legislation will be resubmitted that will include the additional provisions recommended by the commission. During the next Legislature, remember that this issue will come up again, and remember to contact your legislators to let them know how you feel about this important issue.

Let us hope that the hard work of the members of the Joint Standing Committee of Criminal Justice and advocates of the bill can be fully realized. Let’s thank them for their hard work and support them in their future efforts in this area.

Meridith Bolster and Larry Bolster are Master of Social Work students at the University of Maine and live in Bangor.