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Far too many people with mental illnesses are in jails and prisons due to inadequate public mental health systems. Underfunded and resistant to new approaches, public mental health systems have failed to invest in effective strategies for preventing encounters with the criminal justice system. While assertive community treatment (ACT), intensive case management, crisis intervention teams (CIT), and supported housing all have proven successful in reducing arrests and incarceration, these services are in short supply in public mental health systems.
Everyone loses when we criminalize a person with a mental illness. People with mental illnesses experience trauma and mental health treatment is rarely adequate in jail or prison. In addition, they find it more difficult to get a job and find housing when they have a criminal record. Families suffer when their loved ones are imprisoned. Law enforcement resources are diverted when people with mental illnesses are arrested and tax dollars are misspent.
Many communities are beginning to address this problem through collaborations between the criminal justice system and the public mental health system. One approach is to promote jail diversion at all stages – pre-arrest, pre- and post-booking, pre-trial, and pre-sentencing. Another is ensuring that, when released from jail or prison, people have a supply of medication and immediate access to community mental health services. This strategy is greatly facilitated by ensuring that when inmates leave confinement, they are enrolled in federal income support programs like the Supplemental Security Income program (SSI) and health care programs like Medicaid.
Ultimately, the Bazelon Center aims to end incarceration of individuals with mental illness by diverting them away from jails and into community-based programs. For more information about our work, see the resources below.
On April 1st, Section 9817 of the American Rescue Plan, which went into effect. It increases the amount of federal reimbursement available under the Medicaid program for one year for what the law calls Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS). There may be future legislation that extends this funding. HCBS are services that help people live and participate in the community — like intensive case management, peer support services, assertive community treatment, skills training, and supported employment. These services also help individuals avoid criminal justice involvement and may be used to divert people from jail or other congregate settings, and to facilitate re-entry.
An Alternative to Police: New Funding Available for Community Based Mental Health Services
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