Behind the Lines

Time to focus on major issues such as jails, mental illness

Behind the lines

Well 2016 has certainly flown by like waterfowl in the Mississippi Flyway. You know what they say, “The older you get; the faster the years go.”

Our country endured a divided and polarstate. The options varied in their intent of impact and ranged from altering sentencing guidelines to mental health and crisis intervention. izing political season for more than a year, and now it’s time to unite as Americans and support the victors and focus on serving the people. The same goes on the state level. The races are done. The seats have been filled. It’s time to serve Arkansans. In Arkansas, we are not short on challenges in state and county government. We have a plethora of needs and areas of concern and only so much revenue and resources. A major issue for counScott perkins Communications ties and the state is jail overcrowding and mental illness. Director

Meeting the demands of one of the fastest growing prison populations in the country deserves a broad and multifaceted approach to rethinking our criminal justice system. The Council of State Governments Justice Center has conducted Justice Reinvestment research in the state and this fall presented its findings to state leadership and legislative committees of interest. Justice reinvestment is a data-driven approach to reduce corrections spending and reinvest savings in strategies that can decrease recidivism and increase public safety. Since last fall, the Justice Center conducted more than 100 meetings and calls with various stakeholders and reviewed more than 3 million records from Arkansas agencies like the Department of Correction, the parole board, sentencing commission, Arkansas Crime Information Center and the Administrative Office of the Courts.

The center’s research unearthed some disturbing facts about Arkansas’ prison system, and also identified equally disturbing trends.

Arkansas’ prison population increased 22 percent from 2012 to 2014 and is among the fastest growing population in the nation. The state’s prison population also increased 53 percent since 2000. We now spend more than $500 million on corrections a year, and that number is up 68 percent since 2004. Arkansas’ prison population is projected to increase by 19 percent by 2023. The Justice Center reported that maintaining the status quo would cost the state more than $650 million in additional spending from 2018 through 2023.

I don’t know about you, but these findings are eye opening and it is evident we must take proactive measures to stop the growth and mitigate spending while continuing to protect our communities. The center provided plenty of policy options to the County jails oftentimes become warehouses for state inmates when the population swells and far too many times become a place where the mentally ill and those suffering from substance abuse end up instead of in a treatment facility. The County Judges Association of Arkansas, the Quorum Court Association of Arkansas and the Arkansas Sheriffs Association (ASA) all have passed resolutions requesting state leaders to provide “priority funding” for crisis intervention training and infrastructure. They identified three main aspects in the resolutions: Establishment and fundMeeting the demands of one of the fastest growing prison populations in the couning for adequate in-jail behavioral health services and crisis services for the mentally ill (including support through use of telemeditry deserves a broad and multifaceted approach to cine); establishment and funding of regional crisis rethinking our criminal justice system. stabilization units (CSU) for the mentally ill throughout the state of Arkansas; and establishment and funding for crisis intervention training (CIT) of law enforcement officers throughout the state of Arkansas. In his proposed budget, Gov. Asa Hutchinson did suggest $5 million of his rainy day funds to be used for crisis intervention units and training. The Justice Center’s policy options concerning crisis intervention highlighted five main areas of emphasis: • Create a fund to reimburse Arkansas’ local law enforcement agencies for expenses associated with training officers/deputies in crisis intervention/specialized response for people with mental illness; • Develop options for diverting people with mental illness from jails, including funding to support crisis stabilization units as well as necessary programming and treatment for successful reintegration into the community; • Assist the Association of Arkansas Counties and ASA in the development of screening and assessment tools for use by See “JUSTICE” on Page 14 >>>

Justice

local jails. Use of such tools by local jails will be voluntary; • Develop a secure statewide database for maintaining information on jail intake screenings/assessments to enable this information to be readily accessible to jails in Arkansas; and • Create county/regional councils to coordinate administration of criminal justice at local level.

Unfortunately, local law enforcement officials in the state of Arkansas have few options when encountering the mentally ill on the street. Currently, Arkansas law enforcement does not have infrastructure or specialized training to divert these individuals from incarceration to treatment.

In 2006, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) found the majority of state, federal and local jail inmates had mental health problems and 15 percent had severe mental illness.

According to the National Association of Arkansas Counties (NACo), one in five adults in the U.S. experience a mental illness, with less than half receiving treatment in the past year. One in 25 experience a serious mental illness, with only two-thirds receiving treatment. One in ten experience a substance abuse disorder, with only 10 percent receiving treatment in the past year. NACo has promoted for several years “Smart Justice” which emphasizes spending local tax dollars and resources smarter and more effectively by diverting the non-violent non-dangerous from jail while protecting public safety and incarcerating the dangerous and violent in jail and prison.

Forty-five states have crisis stabilization units, crisis intervention training and diversion programs of some nature, including Arkansas’ surrounding states. Many stakeholders including state legislative leadership toured crisis intervention units in Texas and elsewhere earlier this year.

According to local officials, that program has diverted more than 17,000 people statewide from jails and emergency rooms, provided training in crisis intervention to more than 2,600 law enforcement officers and more than 250 school police officers and administrators, and saved taxpayers more than $50 million over about 12 years. The Bexar County jail now has empty beds instead of overcrowding.

The fact that we have no mental health crisis infrastructure is a certain factor in the state’s 48 percent recidivism rate. These individuals do not need to be locked up in a jail or prison environment. Law enforcement needs options when encountering these individuals on the street. It’s the right thing to do for our citizens and society. Creating more prisoners from those who need help is a status quo that we can’t afford to simply continue. It’s time to serve the people better.

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