The American criminal justice system largely fails to identify mental illness and its relationship to crime, according to VERA Institute of Justice.
“Identifying mental health needs and providing treatment before people become entrenched in the justice system is an important preventive strategy,” VERA reports.
Law enforcement, courts, and corrections officials are aware of inmates who are struggling with mental illness, according to Substance Use and Mental Health Program, director Jim Parsons.
“Court rooms, jails, police stations, and probation offices are fast-paced environments, and people working in these settings typically lack the tools and resources necessary to accurately identify those who require mental health support,” said Parsons.
VERA reported that throughout the U.S. criminal justice system there are many people with serious mental illnesses who are trapped in “a cycle of repeated arrest and incarceration.”
The study finds these people do not receive the treatment or services needed to help them function in society.
“For people who receive treatment while they are in jail, prison, or under the supervision of probation or parole agencies, the challenges of reentry compounded by a lack of coordination between agencies often leads them to lose contact with services when they return home or complete their period of supervision,” said Parsons.
The study reported that overrepresentation of people with mental health problems in our justice system is attracting more attention by researchers.
“Identifying people who need mental health services is the first step to their receiving appropriate care”
Researcher Henry J. Steadman and colleagues found that nationwide, 15 percent of male jail inmates and 31 percent of female jail inmates had current serious mental illness.
“Identifying people who need mental health services is the first step to their receiving appropriate care,” the report said.
A recent study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) found that mental health services were available to 34 percent of people in prisons nation wide.
Additionally, the BJS found that 17 percent of those confined in jails have access to mental health services.
The BJS study concluded that part of the reason for the lack of services, as it relates to criminal behavior, is failure to accurately identify mental illness as the cause of criminal behavior.
Additionally, the report found nationally, support services for the mentally ill lack sufficient funding.
However, the report pointed out that attention to this social dynamic is increasing. It said as science, societies evolve, and mature, there has been a matching increase in treatment for people with mental health problems subjected to the criminal justice system.
To create these opportunities for people with mental health problems, mental health courts, alternatives to incarceration, and jail-based re-entry services are being used through out the criminal justice system, according to VERA.
