Mentally ill don't belong in jail

Having a serious mental illness isn't a crime, but it almost might as well be.

Because too many Iowans with severe mental illness are landing in jail or prison instead of getting the help they need.

That's a bad situation for the people whose crimes are directly related to a poorly managed mental condition, but also for our overburdened corrections system and for our communities.

So why can't we get a handle on the problem? According to the advocates and law enforcement officials behind one recent study, it's a simple matter of political will.

The Treatment Advocacy Center and the National Sheriffs' Association recently released a state-by-state report that shows people with serious mental illness are three times as likely to wind up in prison as a psychiatric hospital.

The number's a little lower here in Iowa, where people with serious mental illness are 2.6 times as likely to be behind bars.

That's not much to brag about, and it's not new - just the most recent documentation of a worsening trend we've known about for decades.

According to the report, almost 16 percent of Iowa's prison population on June 30, 2005, were seriously mentally ill. Experts say 40 percent of people with serious mental illness have been in jail or prison. It's a shameful statistic.

Still, the question of how to help and support adults in managing chronic mental illness can be a tricky one. There is no magic bullet.

But we do know some approaches that help. Prison isn't one of them.

The study's authors found a strong correlation between the number of mentally ill people behind bars and the amount of money spent on mental health services.

More money to fund more hospital beds for the people who really need them, and more community-based services for those who don't.

Other options include mental health courts which, like drug courts, offer support and demand accountability from people whose mental illness is the root cause of their criminal behavior.

People whose criminal activity is rooted in mental health issues can have high recidivism rates when those underlying issues aren't treated, but have high rates of success when they are.

The more attention we're willing to give to mental health services in the first place, the fewer people with serious mental illness will turn up at a defendant's table in a county courtroom.

Every dollar spent on building our mental health safety net saves money down the line.

And it helps keep people healthier, instead of locking them away.

Comments: (319) 339-3157; jennifer.hemmingsen@gazcomm.com