County officials: Arresting people with mental disorders strains the system
By April Bethea
The Charlotte Observer
Related: A N.C. health care tragedy
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Mecklenburg County has launched a new program offering treatment and housing to some inmates who are mentally ill instead of requiring them to serve their entire sentence in jail.
For years, critics have urged the county to implement such a program, pointing to successful efforts in other communities.
They say treating the mentally ill instead of jailing them will cut down on repeat offenders and ease jail crowding by tackling behaviors that lead some to commit crimes.
The program also could save money, because officials wouldn’t need to build as many jails to handle the crowds. The county’s two current jails are so overcrowded that inmates have had to sleep on the floor.
Since January, seven people have moved into an outpatient facility just east of uptown, where they can live and get medicine and counseling for up to 90 days. The Sheriff’s Office is monitoring inmates daily to determine who needs mental health services.
The county also wants to start a crisis team to help law enforcement officers better identify people with mental conditions and a crisis center that could offer treatment for up to a week.
County mental health advocates say illness -- not deliberate acts -- leads some to criminal behavior. They argue that jail doesn’t offer appropriate treatment for mental illness and that arresting people with disorders strains the system.
“If they’re mentally ill, they need treatment,” said Connie Mele, director of provider services with Mecklenburg Area Mental Health. “We need to be getting to them to where they can receive some services ... so hopefully they will stop committing crimes.”
Mele said a group that spent more than two years looking at the needs of mentally ill people in jail led to the creation of the diversion program. Last fall, county commissioners approved $500,000 to run the diversion effort for six months.
County statistics show that about a fourth of about 350 Mecklenburg inmates randomly picked for a survey who were in the jail in October 2006 had been treated for mental health issues. Another study found that 83 percent of inmates arrested at least five times in 2005 had substance abuse or other mental health problems.
Recovery Solutions
The program, called Recovery Solutions, now works with people after they’ve been arrested. Inmates with mental illnesses get initial treatment to stabilize their condition. Then, a team determines who could move to the housing program. That group includes representatives from area mental health, and the offices of the county sheriff, public defender and district attorney.
For now, housing is limited to candidates arrested at least five times in a given year on misdemeanor offenses.
Inmates must be relatively stable to be considered for the program, said Area Mental Health Director Grayce Crockett. Those who have committed felonies or need a high level of care aren’t eligible.
The county has arranged for Mecklenburg Open Door, an agency that works with mentally ill people, to offer transitional housing for up to 14 men and women at a time. The housing is part of an old hotel off East Independence Boulevard.
Barbara Williams moved there in mid-January. The 43-year-old from Philadelphia has lived in Charlotte for a decade.
Her records show arrests on charges including trespassing, assault, prostitution and drug possession. She said she is bipolar-schizophrenic and has used drugs and alcohol for 15 years.
Williams said she often ran away from attempts to get her help. But last fall, her case manager offered her “one more chance” in the diversion program.
Williams said that in the past two months, she’s taken her medicines and has not used drugs or alcohol. She and others get daily counseling and support sessions.
“I want to take advantage of as much as I can,” Williams said.
Wide range of programs
The program isn’t Mecklenburg’s first effort to reach out to mentally ill inmates. In 2005, the county opened a mental health court that monitors severely mentally ill criminals.
Crockett said Mecklenburg’s new diversion effort will be unique because it offers a wide range of programs, including housing.
A similar program is already working in Wake County.
In 2005, Wake created a crisis intervention team, an effort involving its sheriff’s office, police departments and advocates. Training helps officers determine whether a person showing signs of mental illness should go directly to jail or to a mental crisis and treatment center.
Wake Sheriff Donnie Harrison said the program helps people with mental illnesses and allows officers to spend more time on the streets. Since 2005, the crisis effort has kept about 300 people from being arrested for misdemeanor offenses and helped with thousands of other calls, said Crystal Farrow, director of Wake’s Local Management Entity.
Mecklenburg officials recently were trained in Wake in the crisis program. Leaders say they hope to replicate that program’s success locally.
“The mental illness doesn’t absolve them of responsibility (for their actions),” said Mecklenburg’s Crockett. “They’re still actually responsible, but we want to treat the cause so that they can lead productive lives.”
Copyright 2008 The Charlotte Observer