ID: Criminalizing Mental Illness
January 24, 2008 - 4:33pm
Idaho wants to put sick people in prison. In the near future, a mentally ill person in Idaho who has never been convicted of a crime could end up in a prison if civilly committed. Idaho Department of Correction is partnering with the Health and Welfare Division to build a 300 bed prison for the mentally ill in a state prison warehouse. The prison will incarcerate 260 people convicted of crimes who have a mental illness and 40 people who were not convicted of any crime.
Idaho lacks treatment for any mentally ill person, regardless of conviction history. The state ranks 49th in the U.S. on spending on mental health and got an “F” in mental health services from the National Alliance on Mental Illness. When looking at the state’s incarcerated population, 44% of the young people in the juvenile system and 28% of adult prisoners have a diagnosed mental illness. Nationally, for adults in prison, the average is 16%.
The Idaho legislature still must allocate money for the project. Advocates for the mentally ill suggest that a separate facility for those who are civilly committed is important. Some legislators see it as a dollars and cents issue – it’s cheaper to put people in the prison.
This news brief is based on a story in the Boise Weekly, Do Iron Bars a Mental Hospital Make? If the link is broken, check the newspaper’s web site.
Idaho lacks treatment for any mentally ill person, regardless of conviction history. The state ranks 49th in the U.S. on spending on mental health and got an “F” in mental health services from the National Alliance on Mental Illness. When looking at the state’s incarcerated population, 44% of the young people in the juvenile system and 28% of adult prisoners have a diagnosed mental illness. Nationally, for adults in prison, the average is 16%.
The Idaho legislature still must allocate money for the project. Advocates for the mentally ill suggest that a separate facility for those who are civilly committed is important. Some legislators see it as a dollars and cents issue – it’s cheaper to put people in the prison.
This news brief is based on a story in the Boise Weekly, Do Iron Bars a Mental Hospital Make? If the link is broken, check the newspaper’s web site.
