New Search
Feclera~Priorities 2007 Pubic Safety Justice <br />Adult Corrections Mental Health <br />Recidivism Project <br />Request <br />Lane County is requesting $3.5 million over three years to establish acorrections-based mental <br />health program to help adult offenders with low-level criminality and mental illness stay out of <br />jail. The funding would be used in conjunction with the existing defendant and offender <br />management program, and targeted specifically to inmates with .diagnosable mental illnesses. <br />The funds would be used to plan the program, hire mental health specialists and other staff, and <br />set up a day reporting center for the program participants. The goal is to reduce the number of <br />mentally ill people in the Lane County Jail and to keep the mentally ili from re-offending. <br />Background <br />Many local people afflicted with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression need support <br />that helps them navigate life. They need to learn how to use the city bus system, locate housing, <br />and obtain food stamps. Just as important, they need professional advice for managing <br />psychiatric medications that stifle haunting voices, hallucinations, and other daunting symptoms <br />of some of their illnesses. <br />This is how community-based mental health-a vast system that has helped millions of mentally <br />ill Americans leave institutions and integrate into society-is supposed to work. In Oregon, <br />mental health treatment has been poorly funded, leaving scores of desperately ill people to fend <br />for themselves. Without treatment and support, some end up homeless. Many have co- <br />occurring disorders and abuse drugs and alcohol. Others commit crimes. Many are cast adrift or <br />join a growing influx of mentally ill people doing hard time in Oregon prisons and jails. <br />State and county lockups already are swelling with mentally ill inmates. About 22 percent of <br />Oregon's 12,000 prison inmates suffer from serious mental illness. That's double the 11 percent <br />mark reported in the mid-1990s. Lane County's correction system is no different. <br />Since the late 1970s, the number of persons in the nation's jails and prisons has increased to a <br />level not seen since the 19th century. At the same time, the number of persons committed to <br />mental hospitals has dropped dramatically. In 1958, Oregon had more than 5,000 people <br />committed to the state hospital. Now, Oregon .has approximately 790 people in the state <br />hospital. An additional 500 beds are available for community-based mental health programs and <br />are used for short-term commitments. Over the last 25 years, significant medical advancements <br />have allowed for the better management of mentally ill individuals. <br />With the proper medication and assistance, many can live and work in the community. With <br />these significant medical advancements, the treatment of the mentally ill shifted from state. <br />institutions to community-based programs. Consequently, Oregon significantly reduced the <br />number of beds within the state hospital system. It did so with the intent of shifting resources to <br />community-based programs. However, many mental health advocates contend that adequate <br />resources were never transferred to community-based programs. <br />One study, using the prison and mental health census data from 18 European countries, found <br />an inverse relationship between prison and mental health hospital populations. The study <br />34 <br />