AAC
RESEARCH CORNER
— Photo from iStock
Helping the mentally ill Resources are needed to prevent the incarceration of the mentally ill and to get them the treatment they need.
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Story By Cagney Kilgore and JORDYN NYKAZA AAC Law Clerks
he Arkansas Constitution, in Art. 19, § 19, mandates, “It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to provide by law for the support of institutions for the .... treatment of the insane.” While the language in this provision may seem outdated, the duty it bestows upon the legislature certainly is not. Arguably, the need for state-supported mental health services in Arkansas is greater today than it has ever been before in our state’s history. The mentally ill in Arkansas have urgent needs. We call upon the General Assembly to address our needs. Union County Jail Administrator Richard Mitchum describes the grim reality for many mentally ill individuals who do not have access to treatment: “Many of the mentally ill in Arkansas are placed into our county jails because there is nowhere else for them to go.” Often, hospitals will not treat mentally ill individuals unless they are a threat to themselves or others. Furthermore, out-patient facilities are not widely available in certain rural parts of the state and are cost20
prohibitive without insurance. As a result, county jails have become the landing pad for those individuals who have fallen through the cracks of Arkansas’ strained behavioral healthcare system. Sebastian County Sheriff Hobe Runion elaborates, “I run the largest mental health ward in the county.” Mitchum and Runion both believe jail is not the appropriate place to house someone with a mental illness because “they need help” and sitting in a jail worsens mental illness due to the isolation and harsh conditions inside. Arkansas has tools to help treat forensic patients, or those mentally ill individuals who are within the criminal justice system: the Arkansas State Hospital psychiatric beds, crisis stabilization units, and step-down beds. Unfortunately, these resources are in high demand and unequally distributed across the state, resulting in long wait times in county jails for a forensic bed at the State Hospital to become available.
Arkansas State Hospital Psychiatric Be and Step-Down Beds
As the sole state operated acute psychiatric inpatient hospital in the state, the Arkansas State Hospital (ASH) is the leading provider of mental health care services to forensic paCOUNTY LINES, SUMMER 2021
