FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas must do more to prevent jails and prisons from acting as de facto hospitals for thousands of people with mental illness, a panel of officials and experts said Wednesday night.
Washington County Sheriff Tim Helder, State Sen. Uvalde Lindsey, D-Fayetteville, and three mental health professionals discussed the justice system's struggle with inmates' mental health problems at the Fayetteville Public Library.
By The Numbers
Mental Illness And Jails
JurisdictionTotal InmatesInmates with Severe Mental Illness
Washington County Detention Center529Around 90
Arkansas Department of Correction17,766Around 3,000
Source: Staff Report
Thousands of people with mental illness are being detained for months or years in law enforcement facilities that can't treat them, the panel said. After laying out the scope of the problem, the panelists also described possible solutions.
"This is not news to us," Helder told the more than 100 people who attended. "It's quite dangerous for our employees, but it's also dangerous for the detainees."
Overall, one in four people booked in the Washington County Detention Center have experienced mental health problems, Helder said. That comes to 250 of the 1,000 people who are booked every month, according to jail records.
More than two-thirds of that group qualify as suffering from severe schizophrenia, depression or bipolar disorder, said Mindy Bradley, an associate professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Arkansas and a panel member.
Statewide, that means 3,000 people with severe mental illness are incarcerated in state prisons, not counting hundreds more in county jails. The entire system is holding hundreds more than it was designed for as well, amplifying the problem.
"These are the most conservative estimates," Bradley added. "Pretty depressing statistics, I know."
As an extreme example, one mentally ill man has been held in Washington County's jail since December, Helder said. The man talks to people who aren't there, rubs blood, urine and feces on walls and himself and has attempted to kill himself three times.
On the other hand, people with mental illness might also self-medicate with alcohol and drugs, said Nancy Kahanek, a retired case manager for Ozark Guidance, a Northwest Arkansas mental health provider. Dozens of people in Washington County are arrested each month simply because they showed symptoms in public.
"Normally the officer feels so inadequate to deal with this that the decision is to arrest," Helder said.
To address these issues, local mental health providers and law enforcement must continue strengthening their relationships, and the state must provide for faster assessment and better treatment, the panel agreed.
"We're talking over a period of several years, but that's the big picture," said David Williams, a counselor who has worked extensively with law enforcement and the state Department of Human Services. "The dream is a grandslam homerun."
Clinics such as Ozark Guidance need more state support, he added. The system ideally would become strong and sleek enough for police officers to be able to bring mentally ill people to treatment as quickly as paramedics bring the injured.
The state took a step backward in the last fiscal session, said Lindsey. More than $5 million was cut from the community behavioral health budget, while correction funding hardly budged.
"We didn't do right, I'm convinced now," Lindsey said. An earlier state program providing autism training for emergency responders proves a solution can be found, however, he added.
"I need for you all to help me, and I need for you all to talk to your senators," Lindsey said. "Just because the budget's tight doesn't mean we can't find the money."
NW News on 04/17/2014