Florida Chief Justice Hosts Landmark Summit on Mental Health,
Other Chief Justice Task Forces Continue to Make Progress
On November 14, Chief Justice Fred Lewis of the Florida Supreme Court hosted an unprecedented forum among state leaders to unveil a plan to improve the state's mental health system and to better coordinate services provided to people with mental illnesses, including those involved with the criminal justice system. The plan unveiled at the event is part of the work undertaken by Florida's Chief Justice-led task force, one of seven such statewide task forces convened by the Council of State Governments Justice Center and the National GAINS/TAPA Center to improve responses to people with mental illnesses involved with the criminal justice system. (View a pdf of the Supreme Court press release here.)
Governor Crist spoke at the event: "We have a responsibility to support and care for the most vulnerable among us, and at the same time, ensure the safety of our communities while also being good stewards of taxpayer dollars." The plan detailed in the report, Transforming Florida’s Mental Health System, recommends the development of a strategy to reduce the state's dependence on state forensic mental health beds and to reinvest millions of state dollars currently spent on those beds in community-based mental health treatment. In 2006, Florida ranked 12th in the country in spending for forensic mental health services, and since then, spending has dramatically increased, with $16 million in emergency funding and $48 million in annual funding added in the past year. Conversely, Florida ranks 48th nationally in terms of overall per capital public mental health spending. (Download a pdf of the report here.)
Key Florida agency heads, including Secretary Bob Butterworth of the Department of Children and Families, Secretary James McDonough of the Department of Corrections, and Secretary Walt McNeil of the Department of Juvenile Justice, attended the summit. State Senator Stephen Wise, a member of the Justice Center Board of Directors and chairman of the Committee on Education Pre-K-12 Appropriations, also attended. The event generated extensive media coverage, and numerous newspapers issued editorials in support of the report's findings, available on the Criminal Justice/Mental Health InfoNet.
Chief Justice Lewis assigned Judge Steve Leifman as the Supreme Court's Special Advisor on Criminal Justice and Mental Health to manage the day-to-day operations of the task force, and Judge Leifman delivered the report's findings and recommendations at the forum on November 14. Leifman also serves as the co-chair of the national Chief Justices' Criminal Justice / Mental Health Leadership Initiative, which the Justice Center coordinates in partnership with the GAINS Center.
Chief justices in six other states were also selected to participate in the Chief Justices' Criminal Justice/Mental Health Leadership Initiative and receive funding support and technical support from the Justice Center and the GAINS Center. The chief justices in these states, California, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, Texas, and Vermont, have convened task forces to develop strategies to improve outcomes for people with mental illnesses in the justice system across the state.
Read more on the Consensus Project website.
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U.S. House Passes the Second Chance Act on Prisoner Reentry
On November 13, 2007 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Second Chance Act of 2007, H.R. 1593—a bill that will increase the likelihood that people’s transition from prisons and jails to the community is safe and successful. The bill, introduced by Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) and Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) received broad bipartisan support, passing the House 347-62.
Leaders of the Council of State Governments Justice Center commended Members of the U.S. House of Representatives for passing the bill. "The Second Chance Act's goals and provisions support the kinds of policy changes and programs that the Justice Center's federally funded Re-entry Policy Council Report recommends to lower recidivism rates," said Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry, Justice Center board member and chair of the New York State Assembly Correction Committee. “We urge the Senate to take swift action in support of this bill.”
The House bill authorizes up to $55 million dollars in grants to state and local governments to develop reentry initiatives to help keep people released from prisons and jails from recidivating, including projects that seek to connect people coming out of prisons or jails with mental health services.
“The passage of the Second Chance Act illustrates the extraordinary bipartisan consensus that exists among elected officials that we need to reduce the rates at which people return to prison after they're released," said Rep. Davis.
Approximately 95 percent of all state prisoners will be released. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), half will return to prison within three years and even more will be re-arrested. Incarcerated individuals with mental illnesses stay incarcerated even longer than the general corrections population and are more likely to recidivate--often soon after their release. In part, recidivism rates are driving the continued growth of prison and jail populations across the country and associated costs. As of 2004, national spending on local, state, and federal corrections totaled $61 billion. That figure is poised to increase; a recent report from The Pew Charitable Trusts stated that if current federal, state, and local policies and practices do not change, taxpayers are expected to pay as much as $27.5 billion on prisons alone over the next five years on top of current corrections spending.
"Enacting the Second Chance Act and funding the programs it authorizes will enable us to save taxpayer dollars, increase public safety, strengthen families, and make sure the gates to our prisons are not just revolving doors," said Rep. Cannon.
For more information on the Second Chance Act, please contact Sara Paterni. To view resources on the Second Chance Act, please visit the Reentry Policy Council website.
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Announcements
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Criminal Justice and Mental Health in the News
Articles from newspapers around the country covering issues at the intersection of mental health and criminal justice can be found on the Criminal Justice / Mental Health InfoNet website. Some recent headlines from the Consensus Project homepage are posted below.
The Daily Reflector (NC) - Training helps the police intervention team be better equipped
12/5/07 - "In 17 years of working in law enforcement, Cpl. Cathy Williams of the Greenville Police Department says the number of incidents involving someone with a mental health crisis has increased significantly. She has learned through training and experience how to handle scenarios she may face in response to those situations, but Williams says officers can be better prepared for what to expect when they arrive on scene."
Daily Record (WA) - County undertakes informal mental health court
11/30/07 - “Kittitas County District Court is experimenting with a way mentally ill defendants in misdemeanor criminal cases could get treatment, including medication, instead of jail.”
The Advocate (CT) - Editorial: Mental health treatment vs. prison
11/27/07 - “The program would save some mentally ill offenders from going through the court process and instead steer them immediately into treatment.”
Amarillo Globe-News (TX) - Crisis group given state funding: Mental health services working with police
11/26/07 - “Texas Panhandle Mental Health Mental Retardation will receive more than $600,000 in state funds over the next two years to increase mental health crisis services. The agency, charged with assisting those with mental illness, is teaming with the Amarillo Police Department to develop mobile crisis outreach teams.”
The Advocate (CT) - State could change laws on mentally ill offenders
11/25/07 - "The program - the subject of discussions by the state's sentencing task force - would give mentally ill offenders the chance to enter treatment instead of going through the court process, if they can prove their mental illness contributed to their alleged crime."
The Athens Messenger (OH) - Local law enforcement train to handle mentally ill
11/21/07 - ”...[A] group of Athens and Ohio University police officers, sheriff’s deputies and court personnel spent a week in Crisis Intervention Training, learning a good deal more about dealing with people with mental illnesses than they did in the police academy.”
Tallahassee Democrat (FL) - Editorial: Mental-health court worth pursuing
11/19/07 - "When Broward County officials a decade ago decided it was both unjust and outrageously expensive to steer nonviolent mentally ill defendants into jails and prisons, they got creative."
Medical News Today - Legislation improves mental health services for mentally ill prisoners
11/19/07 - “The American Psychiatric Association (APA) applauds recent Congressional efforts to acknowledge and improve treatment for the large number of people with mental illnesses and substance use disorders who are currently incarcerated in U.S. jails and prisons.
Miami Herald (FL) - A call to treat mentally ill, not jail them
11/15/07 - "The chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court and Gov. Charlie Crist on Wednesday called for a complete overhaul of the state's mental-healthcare system."
Associated Press (FL)- Report urges state to keep mentally ill out of jails, prisons
11/14/07 - “Florida should spend more money treating the mentally ill to keep them out of jails and prisons, where thousands now are winding up, a subcommittee created by the Florida Supreme Court recommended.”
San Francisco Chronicle (CA) - Special court in S.F. offers hope and help to those short on both
11/13/07 - "Working with a host of city agencies, the court gives the defendants specially designed treatment plans that include case managers to help them get into psychiatric rehabilitation and supportive housing programs, obtain proper medications and find assistance to overcome drug and alcohol abuse."
Republican Herald (PA) - County to strategize on mental health
11/11/07 - “Daniel McGrory believes Schuylkill County should have fewer people with mental health problems in its prison. ‘They tend to serve longer periods of time,’ McGrory, administrator of the county’s mental health, mental retardation, and drug and alcohol programs, said Friday.”
The Vindicator (OH) - 56 officers trained to deal with mentally ill
11/6/2007 - "Completion of the third Mahoning County Crisis Intervention Team training class brings to 56 the number of area law enforcement personnel who have received the specialized training in how to deal with mentally ill people."
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