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It’s the kind of issue that no one wants to talk about – mental health and law enforcement. If recent history has taught us anything, it’s the fact that a lot of high-profile crimes are committed by the mentally ill. The Virginia Tech shootings come to mind. In an attempt to address what critics call a deadly disconnect between American law enforcement personnel and mental health professionals, Senators Edward M. Kennedy and Pete Domenici recently introduced the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act of 2007.
The bipartisan legislation would provide for continued funding to support the cooperation between the criminal justice and mental health systems to ensure improvement in the treatment of offenders diagnosed with mental illnesses. After signing the bill at a press conference, Senator Kennedy said the legislation was long overdue. “In his last public bill signing in 1963, President Kennedy signed a $3 billion authorization bill to create a national network of community mental health facilities across the country,” Kennedy said. “With the escalation of the Vietnam War, not one penny of the $3 billion was ever appropriated.
Now, far too often, mentally ill individuals encounter the criminal justice system when what is really needed is treatment and support.” Pete Domenici agreed. “Many communities are not prepared to meet the needs of individuals with mental illness when they enter the criminal justice system, let alone treat them,” Senator Domenici said. “The bill we are introducing today will help provide states and counties the resources needed to design and implement collaborative efforts between the criminal justice system and mental health care structures.” Domenici went on to point out that he has witnessed first hand the mental health courts in action and is convinced that they work.
“We need this bill to build on the success of this grant program,” he said. The numbers back up the claim that mental illness in the criminal justice system is an issue that has been neglected in recent years. Federal figures show that 16 percent of people under correctional supervision – over one million individuals – suffer from a serious mental illness. Many of these people have been charged with or convicted of non-violent crimes that are a direct consequence of their not having received needed treatment and supportive services for their mental illness.
The bill reauthorizes critical programs to move away from troubled systems that often result in the escalating incarceration of individuals with mental illness, taking valuable jail space that otherwise might be used to lock up violent offenders. If it passes, the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act will provide federal support for collaboration between criminal justice and mental health systems so they can better address issues such as community reentry, jail diversion and cross-training of criminal justice and mental health personnel. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites        
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