Aid The Mentally Ill Outside Of Jail

Treatment should also include substance abuse. Hopefully, this will be the subject of the task force. We could save millions every year by funding treatment facilities for people with a drug addiction instead of warehousing them in jails and prison across the state.

The Denver Post - One of every five inmates jailed in the seven- county Denver metro area has a serious mental illness, and housing them takes a $34.4 million annual bite out of the counties' tight budgets, according to a new report by a Metro Area County Commissioners' task force.

Seriously ill inmates spend 5 1/2 times longer in jail than average inmates and cost $8.28 more per day because they receive more services and may be housed in special units, the report found.

"If we could reduce the number of mentally ill people in jail by one-third, we could cut the jail population in half," said Jefferson County Commissioner Kathy Hartman, chairwoman of the metro group. Mentally ill inmates also revolve in and out of jail more frequently.

The report, "Taking Action for Change," said cuts in mental-health programs and few available psychiatric beds mean jail cells end up as the last resort for people with depression and schizophrenic and psychotic disorders.

Money could be saved by plugging service gaps with community programs, the report said, thereby diverting the mentally ill from the criminal justice system and providing a range of help upon release.

The problem is not new. Since 1991, the percentage of inmates with serious mental illness has increased 1 percentage point each year, according to the Colorado Department of Corrections.

The issue has been trying to find money to pay for state and county programs for the mentally ill.

But Hartman said spending money for community-based programs costs one-tenth as much as jail. And for counties such as Jefferson, which is facing a $150 million jail expansion, the savings could be significant.

In community programs, not only would people receive proper treatment, the report said, but jail bed space would be freed up, inmates would be less likely to return to the criminal justice system, and jail costs would be limited.

The Denver Post