We went on a field trip yesterday, to a location where they employ people with mental and physical handicaps. It has been pointed out to me before that 50% or more of the people in the criminal system have a mental handicap. It makes me wonder if there needs to be more testing done, and intervention planning earlier in life. People are not getting the help they so desperately need to succeed in life. If intervention was planned and done right, could that prevent some crimes, and decrease the amount of people that are in our jails?
There are places out there that can help. But, once you have a criminal record, your choices are limited. A lot of work sites will not take a person with a criminal background to work in the health field, as well as education. A diagnosis of Schizophrenia often can land people in trouble, with little help other than drugs. I hope that more of these types of rehabilitation/work sites are built. But, with little resources it is hard to tell if another would succeed.
Schizophrenia
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I really have had my eyes opened to the need of the mentally disabled. My guess is that only one third of this population are getting the services they need to have a full and productive file. If they have no where to go and have no jobs, they're hanging around the wrong people and getting into trouble. And with the economy the way it is, our non-profits are struggling to meet the needs of the clients they have.
ReplyDeleteI think you are so right. Mental health is just like physical health. If we take measures to keep ourselves healthy and treat diseases early, we stay out of hospitals and spend less money. The same would apply to mental health early treatment and prisons. In an article I read, one of the recommendations for dealing with this problem is training officers as described in your link. The other recommendation were to:
ReplyDelete1. Have mental health professionals consult out in the field to divert the mentally ill from jail and into treatment
2. To have those sent to jail, receive routine screening for mental illness and provide short-term crisis evaluation, treatment and referral
3. If the mentally ill detainee committed only a minor crime, should be diverted to the mental health system entirely and not put in jail.
4. Assign case managers to track and find resources for these individuals
5. Educate families on how to stabilize their relative.
This all makes sense but is a daunting task and will take lots of resources. It's no wonder organizations like NAMI and APA are fighting an uphill battle with this problem.
I was glad to find that NC does train and employ Crisis Intervention Teams you can read testimonials of CIT trained officers at the link below.
http://www.ps.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/49/4/483
http://www.pbhsolutions.org/CIT/testimony7.asp