CORRECTIONS AND MENTAL HEALTH

PRISONS AND JAILS ARE CALIFORNIA’S LARGEST MENTAL HEALTH FACILITIES

Background
Mental illness is an often severe and disabling medical condition that can nearly always be effectively treated. An estimated 20 percent of the population has some sort of serious mental illness during their lifetime – that’s one in 5 Californians. Individuals with mental illness are also both the largest and fastest growing group of people with disabilities receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) disability payments. According to the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, an estimated $25 billion is spent annually for these disability payments. There are many forms of mental illness, which like almost any illness, vary in severity. Some of the most common forms of mental illness include schizophrenia, manic depressive/bi-polar disorder, major depression, anxiety disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

• Even though less than 5% of the population suffers from a severe mental illness, they comprise 10-20% of prisoners.
• The state spends more than $1 billion to incarcerate and treat 15% of the inmate population – the approximately 24,000 with a mental illness. This doesn’t include local corrections costs or the total cost to the criminal justice system, which is estimated at $1.8 billion. The success of AB 34 proves the state saves money when it invests revenue in community-based programs. Pacific Research Institute, California Dept. of Corrections, Mental Health Association in California.
• Surveys of people who suffer from mental illness show that nearly all have been arrested at least once, while surveys of those who are receiving extensive treatment (at least 60 days of treatment in a county mental health program) have virtually no arrests or hospitalizations.
• California’s prisons and jails have become our de-facto mental institutions. The latest data available finds that the state spends an estimated $1.2 to $1.8 billion on criminal justice law enforcement dealing with people with mental illness. Comprehensive mental health services cost only about $35-$50 per day and their necessity may ultimately be eliminated in many cases as individuals return to work and are able to get off of public assistance.
• Sustained mental health treatment would ease the burden placed on police and sheriffs, allowing them to focus all of their resources on crime-fighting and policing local streets.

Next Steps
Sustained funding for mental health treatment in California is critical because of the direct impact mental illness has on all aspects of society – education, homelessness, law enforcement and overall health costs. Reductions in available resources for comprehensive mental health treatment will ultimately result in additional costs transferred to another segment of our community. Funding of mental health services should remain a priority for California because it is clear the investment saves both money and lives.

For questions or additional information call Kami Lloyd at 916-658-0144

3/28/03

1127 – 11 th Street, Suite 925, Sacramento, CA 95814
Telephone: 916-557-1167 Fax: 916-447-2350 Email: mhac@cwo.com