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Contact: Christopher Burley, Bazelon Center,
202-467-5730 x 133 or cburley@bazelon.org;
Bill Emmet, NASMHPD, 703-739-9333 x 136 or Bill.Emmet@nasmhpd.org;
Elizabeth
Adams, NAMI, 703-524-7600, elizabetha@nami.org;
Heather Cobb, NMHA, 703-797-2588 or hcobb@nmha.org
U.S. Senate Confronts Criminalization of People with Mental Illness
Campaign
for Mental Health Reform Commends Committee Members for Their Work
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (July 30, 2003)—Our nation is failing an inordinate
number of Americans with mental disorders who too often come into contact
with the justice system because of a lack of appropriate services in the
community, according to testimony by the Campaign for Mental Health Reform
to be heard by a Senate committee today.
The Campaign will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on S. 1194,
legislation introduced by Senator Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) to authorize funding
for collaborative grant programs between mental health and justice systems
aimed at avoiding incarceration of people with mental disorders. In its
testimony, the collaboration of some of the nation’s leading advocates
for people with mental illnesses applauds the Committee and the sponsors
of the legislation for highlighting the need to address the growing number
of people with mental illnesses in the criminal and juvenile justice systems.
“What
the federal government can do – and what good legislation must do – is
to provide support for a wide range of collaborative community programs
to ensure that low-level offenders with mental illnesses avoid unnecessary
detention and incarceration, and provide avenues for effective and appropriate
treatment,” according to testimony by Ron Honberg, Legal Director
for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) and the Campaign’s
representative at the hearing.
Approximately five percent of adults in America have a serious mental illness
that significantly interferes with their daily functioning. In striking
contrast, about 16 percent of the population in American prisons or jails
has a mental illness. And over the course of a year, out of the ten million
people who enter U.S. jails, nearly 700,000 of them have a serious mental
illness. Yet, criminal and juvenile systems are ill equipped to properly
handle the needs of people with mental illness.
Echoing recommendations offered in a report by the President’s New
Freedom Commission on Mental Health released last week, the Campaign voices
its support for legislation to fund effective alternatives to incarcerating
individuals with mental disorders who come in contact with the criminal
or juvenile justice systems because of lack of community treatment programs.
The Campaign also calls for the development of comprehensive programs to
enable communities to provide appropriate services and supports at the earliest
possible phase of the criminal process, preferably before booking or arraignment.
The Campaign applauds efforts by law enforcement officers, judges, prosecutors,
state and local corrections officials, and others in the criminal justice
community to promote collaborative state- and community-based solutions
to the problems associated with adults and children with mental disorders
who inappropriately come into contact with the criminal justice and juvenile
justice systems.
S. 1194 authorizes funding for collaboration grants that could be used
to create or expand a broad range of programs, including diversion, court-based
and re-entry programs that offer effective mental health services, as well
as programs to fund specialized training to personnel in criminal, juvenile
justice and mental health agencies.
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The Campaign for Mental Health Reform was founded by
the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, NAMI, the National Association
of State Mental Health
Program Directors and the National Mental Health Association to advance
federal policies that can improve the lives of people with mental illnesses
and their families. The four founding groups and twelve supporting partners
work directly with federal policymakers to make access, quality and recovery
in mental health services the hallmark of our nation’s mental health
system. For more information, visit www.mhreform.org.
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More Information
President's New Freedom
Commission on Mental Health Final Report
Criminal Justice / Mental Health Consensus Project
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