Arrested for Mental Illness

We hear all of the stories: people off their medications or on ineffective medications arrested during psychotic or manic episodes for "disrupting the public." Mania can cause wrong thinking and lead to bounced checks and bad debts. Schizophrenic paranoia can can lead to all sorts of "illegal" acts.

As a result, up to 50% of all local or county jail prisoners at any time have mental illness. Usually this mental illness is untreated, undertreated, or ignored by jail staff, and often the condition only deteriorates while in jail.

This can lead to stronger punishment, harsher treatment, extended incarceration, and withholding of outside communication. A particularly vicious cycle is then perpetuated as outside support systems disappear and alone, the incarcerated, mentally ill person sinks further into their mania, psychosis or depression.

One county board of supervisors wants to change all of that. In Woodbury County, Iowa, the board of supervisors has approved the expenditure of seed money for Project Compass, a $130,000.00 program originally hatched to ease jail overcrowding, but which may serve the higher purpose of treating inmates for mental illness and thus aiding in preventing their reoffense.

Mental Health caseworkers will be available to evaluate inmates suspected of having mental illness. If that person has an illness, he or she could participate in the Compass Project for treatment.

The contract approved Tuesday calls for a maximum of 30 individuals to be treated at one time. That treatment could be as simple as making sure the person takes medication.

Offenders charged with misdemeanors will be eligible for the program, not violent offenders, according to program administrators.

This leaves wide open the gap in treatment for many people with no access to mental health care, whose conditions do deteriorate to the point they commit violent crimes. However, with this program, many offenders charged with misdemeanors will receive proper mental health treatment rather than harmful incarceration and jail time.

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