(Jan. 23, 2017) In August 2015, a 24-year-old young man suffering from severe mental illness starved to death in a Virginia jail cell while waiting four, long months for a psychiatric bed to become available.
Now, the family of Jamycheal Mitchell are pushing for reforms of Virginia’s mental health and criminal justice systems to protect others with mental illness from a similar fate (“Jamycheal Mitchell’s family to lawmakers: Fix Virginia’s mental health system,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, Jan. 18).
Mitchell’s family addressed the Virginia General Assembly at a news conference last week alongside state lawmakers and mental health and civil rights advocates.
“No young man should spend four months in jail for stealing a candy bar and soda,” said Roxanne Adams, Jamycheal’s aunt. “The mentally ill should be in treatment centers, not jails.”
Over a dozen bills have been submitted to the General Assembly aimed at preventing tragedies like this from happening again in Virginia.
Sen. John Cosgrove (R-Chesapeake) proposed SB 940, legislation requiring jail staff to screen incoming inmates for mental illness and for a mental health professional to evaluate and address their needs within three days.
Another promising bill, HB 1997 submitted by Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington), would permit police officers to transport suspects with mental health issues to a crisis stabilization unit, rather than jail. The individual would be summoned to court once upon completion of mental health treatment.
Yet another, SB 933 by Sen. Barbara Favola (D-Arlington), would mandate mental health first aid training for sheriffs and corrections staff in the state.
During the news conference, Favola told Mitchell’s family “the entire commonwealth is embarrassed and ashamed for what happened to your son.
“We are in the 21st century and we’ve come a long way, or so we thought, to understanding mental illness and being a civilized society,” Favola said. “We have so far to go.”
Mitchell’s family hopes these bills will address the gaps in Virginia’s mental health and criminal justice systems that led to their loved one’s death.
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