(Oct. 6, 2017) When hurricane Irene swept through the Green Mountain State and destroyed its state hospital in 2011, Vermonters with serious mental illness in need of inpatient treatment were left with nowhere to go.
Despite the opening of a 25-bed psychiatric hospital in 2014, individuals with the most severe mental illness are still left falling through the cracks of the mental health system.
As a result of this psychiatric bed shortage, Vermonters in psychiatric crisis are waiting in jail for a bed to become available, according to a recently published article in the Burlington Free Press. More than 60 people have been jailed while waiting for a psychiatric bed since July of last year (“Vermont’s ‘mental health crisis’ means some await care in jail,” Burlington Free Press, September 25, 2017).
The article highlights the case of a woman who was placed in segregation at a local correctional facility for eight days while waiting for a psychiatric bed. Due to her mental condition while in jail, “pepper spray, handcuffs and shields were used to move her out of her cell, causing her pain”, according to the article.
Vermont is not an outlier in the criminalization of psychiatric disorders. As the Treatment Advocacy Center has previously reported, the majority of state hospitals maintain waiting lists for beds for individuals with serious mental illness in jail. While these individuals wait, they deteriorate, are often victimized and sometimes die.
Disability Rights Attorney A.J. Ruben is reported as saying that this woman should have been placed in a hospital while awaiting an available psychiatric bed. “This should be the default instead of prisons so those with mental illnesses won’t be subjected to uses of force while they wait for inpatient treatment,” according to Ruben.
Vermont received a ‘D’ grade in a recently released Treatment Advocacy Center report, in part because of these practices. Among the recommendations is for state lawmakers to create policies that stop the criminalization of individuals with serious mental illness.
There is current legislation in consideration to help make this recommendation a reality. The legislation would require the state to develop a plan for a forensic mental health center by January 2018. In the meantime, Vermonters with serious mental illness may have nowhere to go but jail.
by Elizabeth Sinclair