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mental health
Closing the Vermont State Hospital’s Canteen the “last straw” for mental health advocates
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Advocates, employees and former patients are outraged by Douglas administration’s decision to close the Canteen at the Vermont State Hospital. They say it’s the only place left for patients to get a break from the hospital’s locked down wards. In order of appearance: Malcolm Sawyer, former VSH patient; Joe Yoder, a psychiatric technician for VSH; Sarah Lunderville, executive director of the Vermont Center for Independent Living; Curtis… Continue reading
Opinion: Vermont State Hospital canteen eliminated ‘for no good reason’
Vermont State Hospital
Letter-writer: Make judicious cuts without eliminating entire programs
Editor’s note: This open letter to Agency of Human Resources Sec. Robert Hofmann is from Curtis Sinclair, the coordinator for the canteen at the Vermont State Hospital. It was also sent to Gov. James Douglas.
Hello Secretary Hofmann,
I am… Continue reading
Budget cuts add to recidivism woes
Stress on resources limits community mental health treatment services for offenders
Read more in this series
‘We just don’t have the people’
‘This is bankrupting our state’
Prison, a tough environment for mentally ill
Many of Vermont’s prisoners have been diagnosed with psychiatric disorders, and the majority of them… Continue reading
‘We just don’t have the people’
Providing mental health care a challenge for prisons
Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility, Burlington. Photo by Anne Galloway
Vermont does better than many states in providing mental health treatment for its prisoners, according to a consultant, Milliman, Inc., cited by the Joint Legislative Corrections Oversight Committee… Continue reading
‘This is bankrupting our state’
Prison population growth tied to recidivism, mental illness
Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in Burlington. Photo by Anne Galloway
Half of Vermont’s prison inmates released in 2004 had new convictions within three years, according to the Department of Corrections.
Vermont doesn’t track recidivism by prisoners’ mental health status, but a 1999… Continue reading
Prison: A tough environment for mentally ill
Questions raised about Corrections care
Bounced from criminal justice system to mental health programs
For a five year period, Leah Matteson's mentally ill son, Patrick Cristaldi, was in and out of the criminal justice system from the age of 17. Matteson says her son didn't receive proper care in prison. She provided this high school yearbook photo of Patrick.
Officials say suicidal inmates are now monitored more closely by Corrections
Dr. Delores Burroughs-Biron, the health services director for the Department of Corrections, agrees that therapeutic options “should be part of almost any state statute that people who have a mental illness should be afforded certain protections.”
The corrections community agrees, she said, that segregated prisoners need to be monitored closely “for the purpose of following their mental health. We know that people who have mental illness or… Continue reading
Court mandates psychiatric treatment, special services for mentally ill offenders
Judge Geoffrey Crawford presides over the Chittenden County Mental Health Court, which provides treatment options for mentally ill offenders instead of jail time. Photo by Terry J. Allen
Low-cost
How the Chittenden court works
Offenders with mental illnesses are referred to the court by lawyers, judges, police officers, treatment providers and family members when their criminal behavior is driven by mental illness. They may also self-refer.
A clinician assesses offenders for a qualifying mental illness or other serious functional impairment that has led to the commission of the crime, such as psychosis, major mood disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, severe post-traumatic stress disorder and severe… Continue reading
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