WASHINGTON (AP) — Risdon Slate was a diagnosed manic depressive when a new doctor took him off medication. A manic episode followed, after which the college professor found himself in a South Carolina jail for two days.
``At no time in the jail did I see any medical personnel,'' said Slate, 42.
His plight isn't unusual, according to a report being released Tuesday that recommends ways to improve interaction between the criminal justice system and mental health services. Too often, the mentally ill are jailed and not given treatment, the report says.
``When on any given day there are more people with mental illness in the Los Angeles County jail than in any state hospital or private facility in the United States, it's time to agree we have a major problem,'' said Ron Honberg, director of legal affairs for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. ``We need better programs and more cooperation so that these individuals are receiving mental health services and treatment and not returning to the criminal justice system.''
The report, which is being released during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, was coordinated by the Council of State Governments and included comment from victim advocates, mental health experts and criminal justice officials. Private foundations as well as the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services provided grants for the report.
According to the report, there are several instances in the criminal justice system — from the initial call to police to a person's release from prison — where response to people with mental illness could be improved, the report says.
It offers several recommendations for improvement, including improved collaboration between the mental health and criminal justice systems so that law enforcers have information and access to mental health resources. Court officials should also have information about a person's mental illness to make informed decisions during pretrial hearings, adjudication and sentencing, the report says.
The report also calls for better training so that police and others are familiar with the signs and symptoms of mental illness.
Some localities have already started mental health courts, which, like drug courts, maintain separate dockets and specialized judges. Two years ago, Congress passed legislation authorizing the creation of 100 mental health courts in various localities as part of a pilot project. Money to fund that project is still pending, but Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio and an author of the earlier bill, is already planning legislation that would create grants to fund treatment services as part of the mental health courts.
``Frankly, it has gotten worse over the years,'' said DeWine, a former county prosecutor. ``We have more and more people in our criminal justice system who have mental health problems. We think this will make a big difference.''
The Justice Department has reported that the mentally ill — who make up 5 percent of the overall population — make up 16 percent of the prison and jail population.
In Slate's case, he had been taken off medication by his new doctor shortly after taking a job in 1993 as a criminology professor at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Fla.
A year later, he had a manic episode and was arrested for swimming nude. His wife tried to tell officers he needed medication and was mentally ill, but Slate still spent two days in jail before a friend was able to get him into treatment. The charges were later dropped.
``The criminal justice system is really ill-prepared and ill-equipped to deal with many of the issues surrounding mental illness and mental health,'' Slate said. ``Too many people who don't have the resources or the friends or the sheer stroke of luck I had are finding themselves caught up in the criminal justice system.''
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