In Ohio, among 132 patients discharged from the state hospital, 17 percent of them were arrested within six months. By 2006, the Department of Justice reported that 1 in 6 inmates in state prisons and 1 in four in local jails were psychotic. - Sarah Varney
Did you Know?
In 2012 it was documented that fifty-four percent of inmates with mental illnesses were re-arrested within four years of being released from jail.
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Expenses
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Inmates length of stay
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In Ohio, a recent study discovered that the government spent over one million dollars in a year on just twenty different inmates with a reported mental illness. These costs were from numerous arrests, hospital admittance for 72 hours, daily jail fees and being put in detoxification facilities. That is approximate $50,000.00 on each inmate with a mental illness in one year. Comparing to $25,814.00 on an inmate without a mental illness in a year, that is a significant difference in cost.
In 2001, Los Angeles County Jail recorded spending $10 Million dollars in one year on psychiatric medications for inmates. This money along with the $15 Million dollars for housing inmates came from not only the government but also from taxpayer’s money.
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The average length of time in jail for an inmate without a mental illness varies from 26 days to 42 days, the average stay for an inmate with a mental illness varies from 51 days to 215 days.
suicide watch
Having an inmate on suicide watch costs roughly around $650.00 a day as an inmate is checked on every 15 minutes, that being a full-time job is an extra person employed at the jail.
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We are more or less criminalizing mental illness. Jail becomes a default mental-health facility because there are no resources to provide care. - John Houston
what changes can be made to help?
Less medications for Inmates and more therapy
Every day the inmate has the same routine in jail and takes the same medicine at the same time. When the inmate is released that routine will immediately stop and then a hunger for that medication will develop. The state should provide more therapy and less medication so that an inmate is not dependent on that medication. If they are dependent and cannot access the medication after being released they will commit a crime in order to be re-arrested intentionally.
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Aftercare & housing for inmates with mental illnesses
The ACLU Foundation of Southern California and the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law stated that a supportive housing system was successful with inmates with P.T.S.D, Anxiety, Depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. The aftercare really helped the patients become in a healthier mental state. The ACLU foundation also stated that putting more inmates in mental hospitals instead of jail was effective and dropped 50% of re-arrests in one year.
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