(Oct.12, 2016) Across the nation, people with severe mental illness languish in jails and prisons awaiting a psychiatric bed to restore competency so they are able to stand trial. Their crimes are typically minor and usually directly related to their illness: shoplifting, simple assault, vagrancy, trespassing, etc. The wait time can be extraordinary. And excruciating for the individual and their loved ones.
In Pennsylvania, the failures of the mental health system have been especially egregious. Consequently, the commonwealth has been the subject of numerous lawsuits related to the care of the mentally ill in jails and prisons.
Most recently, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit alleging violations of due process by allowing people with mentally illness to spend, on average, a year or more jailed — waiting for treatment instead of receiving it. The commonwealth settled the ACLU suit, agreeing to invest in the mental health system specifically to reduce the waiting time for beds. Even with the settlement, the wait list continues to grow.
The Kutz family is the latest example of a Pennsylvania family caught up in a broken system that allows those most in need to languish in jail rather than providing needed care. (With Pennsylvania Mental Hospitals Full, Jails Become Way Stations, mcall.com, Oct. 8).
Keith Kutz had tried unsuccessfully to get treatment for his son Travis, 24, and resorted to calling the police when he broke into their home for something to eat. Both previous attempts at having Travis hospitalized via their state’s Mental Health Procedure Act ended in failure when Travis signed himself out of treatment.
A year and half after his arrest, their son sits in jail, in isolation for his protection, awaiting a court ordered hospital bed at one of only two state facilities. Currently in Pennsylvania, 252 inmates wait for beds in a single psychiatric hospital, Norristown State Hospital. The Treatment Advocacy Center’s June 2016 Going, Going, Gone report found that Pennsylvania had just 1.8 forensic beds per 100,000 population and just 8.6 civil beds ― far, far below the minimally acceptable number.
Travis has been deemed incompetent by three different psychiatrists and the judge in his case; everyone agrees he needs a high level of ongoing care. The ACLU lawsuit was meant to ensure he gets it.
No progress has been made on reducing wait times in the state due to slow turnover in beds. Despite their dire need, Pennsylvania plans no new beds. Instead, the commonwealth again promises more “robust” community services. All parties also agree that Travis, like many others, may be too sick to take advantage of those services.
Citing a 96.5% decrease in psychiatric beds nationwide since their peak in 1955, the Treatment Advocacy Center’s new campaign, a Bed Instead, calls attention to the plight of prisoners held in jails and prisons while waiting for treatment in psychiatric centers.
For more information on this campaign, including statistics and information on how you can help, visit www.abedsinstead.org. Join the movement to support access to hospital beds – take the pledge for greater access to psychiatric hospital beds.