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Charlevoix County Sheriff Don Schneider said he sees many of the same people in his jail repeatedly. A large number of those in-and-out of the jail struggle with mental health issues. "They're in jail for a crime, but if we don't fix them -- we're not in the business of fixing mental health issues -- it's a vicious cycle, they serve their sentence and they're back out on the street," he said. (FILE PHOTO / December 27, 2012) |
Charlevoix County Sheriff Don Schneider believes there is a mental health crisis in Michigan's county jails.
"We're warehousing people with mental health issues" right here in Northern Michigan, he asserted.
Schneider is not alone in that belief.
After 12 of 16 psychiatric hospitals in the state were shuttered between 1987 and 2003, numbers of mentally ill inmates and prisoners began to shoot up dramatically.
According to Human Rights Watch, the number of mentally ill in U.S. jails and prisons quadrupled between 1998 and 2003.
Funding for preventative supports for mental health have been reduced on a state level as well. Since 2008, Michigan legislators have cut $50 million from community mental health agencies, which strive to offer mental health services to low-income individuals, the most severely mentally ill and those in jails.
Lack of prevention and treatment means those who land in jail for, say, driving with a suspended license or unpaid fines, when that person is also going untreated for a condition such as bipolar or schizophrenia, end up being incarcerated repeatedly.
"They're in jail for a crime, but if we don't fix them -- we're not in the business of fixing mental health issues -- it's a vicious cycle, they serve their sentence and they're back out on the street," said Schneider.
The cost of repeatedly incarcerating individuals with mental health issues is high, he said, both to the individual, sheriff's department and the court system.
Michigan's county jails hold as many as 10,000 mentally ill inmates and the cost to taxpayers of putting a person in jail is approximately $34,000 per inmate per year.
Often inmates with mental health issues need special attention, use up segregation cells, are disruptive to the general population and can be suicidal, said Schneider.
"We see the same people back over and over and over again," reported the sheriff.
The county, state and nation can do a better job of handling those who are mentally ill and commit crimes, he said.
"Right now, we're just housing them in jails to get them off the street."
Where we stand now
North Country Community Mental Health is the sole public mental health organization in a six-county region encompassing Emmet, Charlevoix, Antrim, Cheboygan, Kalkaska and Otsego counties.
The organization is, along with the sheriff's department, charged with care of mentally ill people who are incarcerated.
Additionally, it provides counseling, therapy, psychiatry, nursing support -- a wide variety of services -- for people with serious mental illness and who have developmental disabilities.
The organization is run by a community mental health board with members appointed by the various counties represented.
"We're warehousing people with mental health issues" right here in Northern Michigan, he asserted.
Schneider is not alone in that belief.
After 12 of 16 psychiatric hospitals in the state were shuttered between 1987 and 2003, numbers of mentally ill inmates and prisoners began to shoot up dramatically.
According to Human Rights Watch, the number of mentally ill in U.S. jails and prisons quadrupled between 1998 and 2003.
Funding for preventative supports for mental health have been reduced on a state level as well. Since 2008, Michigan legislators have cut $50 million from community mental health agencies, which strive to offer mental health services to low-income individuals, the most severely mentally ill and those in jails.
Lack of prevention and treatment means those who land in jail for, say, driving with a suspended license or unpaid fines, when that person is also going untreated for a condition such as bipolar or schizophrenia, end up being incarcerated repeatedly.
"They're in jail for a crime, but if we don't fix them -- we're not in the business of fixing mental health issues -- it's a vicious cycle, they serve their sentence and they're back out on the street," said Schneider.
The cost of repeatedly incarcerating individuals with mental health issues is high, he said, both to the individual, sheriff's department and the court system.
Michigan's county jails hold as many as 10,000 mentally ill inmates and the cost to taxpayers of putting a person in jail is approximately $34,000 per inmate per year.
Often inmates with mental health issues need special attention, use up segregation cells, are disruptive to the general population and can be suicidal, said Schneider.
"We see the same people back over and over and over again," reported the sheriff.
The county, state and nation can do a better job of handling those who are mentally ill and commit crimes, he said.
"Right now, we're just housing them in jails to get them off the street."
Where we stand now
North Country Community Mental Health is the sole public mental health organization in a six-county region encompassing Emmet, Charlevoix, Antrim, Cheboygan, Kalkaska and Otsego counties.
The organization is, along with the sheriff's department, charged with care of mentally ill people who are incarcerated.
Additionally, it provides counseling, therapy, psychiatry, nursing support -- a wide variety of services -- for people with serious mental illness and who have developmental disabilities.
The organization is run by a community mental health board with members appointed by the various counties represented.
