Bill for mentally ill to go before Bush for

signing
Jessica Sacco, Collegian Staff
Published: Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Updated: Tuesday, February 3, 2009

The House of Representatives passed the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime
Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act last Weds. The act will help
provide money to help mentally ill individuals.

Senators Edward Kennedy and Peter Domenici introduced the proposal in 2007,
when Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, an original co-sponsor
with Senator Arlen Specter, worked to have the bill approved by the Judiciary
Committee in March. Legislation had been pending in the Senate since April.

The bill authorizes $50 million in grants to help state and local governments create
or expand mental health courts as well as treatment and training programs to help
address the needs of mentally ill offenders to reduce repeat offenses. An additional
$10 million is authorized to teach law enforcement officers and agents to recognize
and react to situations involving mentally ill individuals.

"Senator Kennedy understands that far too often individuals are arrested and
subjected to the criminal justice system when what they really need is treatment
and support to overcome mental illness or substance abuse disorders. His
bipartisan bill provides strong federal support for helping local communities address
this crisis and improve treatment outcomes for mentally ill offenders," said Anthony
Coley, spokesman for Senator Kennedy. "He commends Senator Domenici for his
leadership on this bill and on so many other initiatives to improve our nation's
mental health system.

According to a study conducted in 2006 by the Justice of Department's Bureau of

Justice Statistics, more than half of all prison and jail inmates were found to have a
mental health problem. This includes 56 percent of state prisoners, 45 percent of
federal prisoners and 64 percent of local jail inmates.

The findings are represented based on a survey of prison and jail inmates' recent
history or symptoms of mental disorders that occurred in the last year as opposed
to an official diagnosis of mental illness.

Female inmates were seen to have a higher rate of mental health problems than
men. However, overall, these problems (for both men and women) were primarily
associated with violence and past criminal activity.

"I have witnessed the challenges associated with mentally ill offenders who are a
part of the criminal justice system, and I believe resources are necessary to help
local law enforcement and the judicial system implement appropriate measures to
address these offenders," Domenici said.

Christopher Overtree, director of Psychological Services Center at UMass, believes

that this bill is an example of the growing awareness in communities and
government that the needs of the mentally ill have often been ignored and that it is
time to focus on providing more effective and comprehensive mental health services.

"There has long been a level of disconnect between the needs of the mentally ill, and
the ability of the legal system to provide appropriate services," said Overtree. "This
law enables police officers to receive the training they need to respond more
appropriately to mentally ill offenders, referring them to appropriate services that
may be more effective than the legal system in bringing about a positive change for
the individual and justice in our society. Often, it is these first moments that can
mark the difference in outcome for a mentally-ill offender. As first-responders, law
enforcement officials are better equipped to protect public safety when they are well
trained."

The next step is for the bill to be sent to the president. Pending his approval, it will
be passed as a law.

Jessica Sacco can be reached at jsacco@student.umass.edu.

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