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 are eventually released into the community. [...]
‘We just don’t have the people’
Providing mental health care a challenge for prisons 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. But the author of the report goes on to express concern that the efforts may be insufficient to ensure [...]
‘This is bankrupting our state’
Prison population growth tied to recidivism, mental illness 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 report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics indicates that the national rate is even higher [...]
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 [...]
Court mandates psychiatric treatment, special services for mentally ill offenders
Low-cost program yields results At the Chittenden County Mental Health Court, clients bypass district court and possibly jail time. They receive social services instead, and in exchange for successfully completing their court programs, which may include sanctions, their criminal records are expunged. More than 100 offenders have filtered through the mental health court and compared [...]
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, [...]
