(May 26, 2015) Legislation aimed at increasing access to mental health treatment for mentally ill inmates is making progress in California, according to an editorial by the Sacramento Bee (“Confronting a cost of mental illness,” Sacramento Bee, May 25).
The act would give the court the ability to consider mental illness in the sentencing of a mentally ill offender who has committed a petty, nonviolent crime. The bill is sponsored by Assemblyman Marc Levine and called the “Mental Health Justice Act,” or AB 1006.
If implemented, the legislation would expand treatment for petty offenders with mental illness, and combat the criminalization of serious mental illness.
The numbers suggest this would be a good move for California. It costs approximately $51,000 a year to house an inmate in jail or prison. Comparatively, it costs about $20,412 to house and treat a person with mental illness.
But the need for a bill like AB 1006 highlights a fundamental issue: Jails and prisons have become this country’s de facto mental health hospitals. There are now 10 times more people with serious mental illness in jails and prisons than there are in state mental hospitals.
To cut prison populations and costs, we must stop criminalizing mental illness. AB 1006 is a step in the right direction towards this goal.
Read the Treatment Advocacy Center report “The Treatment of Persons with Mental Illness in Prisons and Jails: A State Survey” to learn more.
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The act would give the court the ability to consider mental illness in the sentencing of a mentally ill offender who has committed a petty, nonviolent crime. The bill is sponsored by Assemblyman Marc Levine and called the “Mental Health Justice Act,” or AB 1006.If implemented, the legislation would expand treatment for petty offenders with mental illness, and combat the criminalization of serious mental illness.
The numbers suggest this would be a good move for California. It costs approximately $51,000 a year to house an inmate in jail or prison. Comparatively, it costs about $20,412 to house and treat a person with mental illness.
But the need for a bill like AB 1006 highlights a fundamental issue: Jails and prisons have become this country’s de facto mental health hospitals. There are now 10 times more people with serious mental illness in jails and prisons than there are in state mental hospitals.
To cut prison populations and costs, we must stop criminalizing mental illness. AB 1006 is a step in the right direction towards this goal.
Read the Treatment Advocacy Center report “The Treatment of Persons with Mental Illness in Prisons and Jails: A State Survey” to learn more.
To comment, visit our Facebook page.
Visit our blog archive to read all our recent posts.