As many as 2 million people with at least one serious mental illness are incarcerated in U.S. prisons each year, and half receive no treatment while imprisoned, according to Mary Giliberti, CEO of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. However, research on mental health courts — which provide an alternative to incarceration — shows a promising solution to the revolving prison door for the mentally ill, according to the Kansas Health Institute.
Sending people with mental illness to prison can be extremely problematic, as they cannot always control their behavior, especially if they are not properly medicated. "Individuals ... talk of being thrown into solitary confinement and being left alone hearing voices while praying to God to end their misery," said Ms. Giliberti.
Here are four things to know about mental health courts and their potential benefits, according to the Kansas Health Institute.
1. Since the first mental health court was established in Broward County, Fla., in 1997, more than 300 have cropped up across the U.S. While rules of the courts vary, violent or sexual offenders are typically excluded. What most have in common is the ability to offer defendants the opportunity to avoid jail by instead adhering to a court-sanctioned treatment plan.
2. Mental health courts are voluntary. They feature routine drug testing, integration of outpatient and residential treatment, intensive team-based supervision, direct interaction between defendants and the judge, compliance monitoring and incentives to motivate participants.
3. Research shows mental health court participation is usually associated with lower incidence of rearrest or reincarceration compared with traditional courts. A study of Washington, D.C.'s mental health court found one-fourth of misdemeanor defendants with a mental illness who went through the program were rearrested within two years, compared to half of defendants who were eligible for the program but elected not to volunteer.
4. The Pew Charitable Trust and the MacArthur Foundation found in 2013 that every $1 spent on a state's mental health court system produced $7 in incarceration savings.