Running Head: BUILDING MENTAL HEALTH FACILITIES 1

Building Mental Health Facilities

Monica Lawson

Western Washington University

NURS 412 Policy Leadership and U.S. Health Care

William Lonneman DNP, RN

February 15th 2017

 BUILDING MENTAL HEALTH FACILITIES 2

Mental Illness and the Cost to Tax Payers

Washington is considered one of the lowest ranked states in regards to access to mental

health services vs. need (Mental Health America 2015). While efforts to increase funding for

mental health services is a step in the right direction there needs to be more. I propose the State

of Washington build mental health centers that house persons with mental illness and provide

them with the treatment they need. This population is in and out of emergency departments and

correctional facilities which are ill equipped for housing and treatment of such a population. The

misuse of resources is costing tax payers money and is an injustice to this vulnerable population

(Torrey 2012).

Homeless and Incarcerated Persons with Mental Illness

The Department of Commerce reports that as of 2016 approximately 42,128 people are

homeless in the State of Washington. In King County alone it is estimated that 35% of homeless

people have mental illness (Kroman 2016).

The Frequent Users of Health Services Initiative states that the average homeless person

visits the emergency room five times a year. Some visit the emergency department on a weekly

basis. These visits cost anywhere from $18,500 to $44,400 a year. This is a band-aid because the

emergency departments are not able to assist in the psychosocial needs, housing, substance abuse

treatment, or mental health care (Green Doors 2017).

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that as of 2006 about 56% of state prison inmates,

45% federal prison inmates, and 64% local jail inmates have mental health problems. A survey

done in 2010 estimated the cost per inmate in Washington state is $45,897 a year (Henrichson &
 BUILDING MENTAL HEALTH FACILITIES 3

Delaney, 2012). This means we spend roughly 22 billion dollars a year on inmates with mental

health issues.

The World Health Organization reports that mental hospitals are strongly associated with

hindering the mentally ill rather than focusing on recovery. These hospitals were reported to have

mistreated patients, poor inspection practices, no quality assurance, and limited financial

resources (2003). While this is all true these hospitals are from the 1950s. Deinstitutionalization

began in 1955 (Torrey 1997). We have made advances in medicine and in society in general in

the past 61 years. Our society went from locking this population up and mistreating them to

sending them out to the streets and ignoring them. Although some mentally ill individuals

recover with proper treatment, it is important to take into consideration the population of

mentally ill that will not recover and cannot be released back into society safely.

Recommendations

Start at the very base of the problem which is simply that there is not enough beds for

these patients. Build mental health facilities that house and treat the mentally ill. In the hopes

that by providing beds and resources to this population they can become productive members of

society rather than a burden. The cost of building one sixteen bed facility is $4,448,000

(OConnell 2014). This is significantly less money than what we spend each year on prison

inmates with mental health issues. By building these structures we can begin to combat the

mental health crisis in America.

 BUILDING MENTAL HEALTH FACILITIES 4

References

Department of Commerce. (2016). Snapshot of homeless in State of Washington. Retrieve from

http://www.commerce.wa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/hau-hmis-snapshot-homelessness-1-

2016.pdf.

Green Doors. (2017). The cost of homelessness facts. Retrieved from

http://www.greendoors.org/facts/cost.php

Henrichson, C., Delaney, R. (2012). The price of prisons: What incarceration costs taxpayers.

Retrieved from https://storage.googleapis.com/vera-web-assets/downloads/Publications/the-

price-of-prisons-what-incarceration-costs-taxpayers/legacy_downloads/price-of-prisons-updated-

version-021914.pdf

Kroman, D. (2016). Seattles homeless emergency: What do we really know? Crosscut. Retrieved

from http://crosscut.com/2016/02/seattles-homeless-emergency-what-do-we-really-know/.

Mental Health America. (2015). Ranking of the states. Retrieved from

http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/issues/ranking-states.

OConnell, S. (2014). HJR 16: State-Operated Institutions Building and Operating a 16-Bed Inpatient

Facility. Retrieved from http://leg.mt.gov/content/Committees/Interim/2013-2014/Children-

Family/Committee-Topics/HJR16/hjr16-building-operating-16-bed-facilities-may2014.pdf

Torrey, E.F. (2012). Homeless Mentally Ill Facts, Figures and Anecdotes. Retrieved from

http://mentalillnesspolicy.org/consequences/homeless-mentally-ill.html.

Torrey, F. (1997). Out of the shadows: confronting Americas mental illness crisis. New York. John:

Wiley & Sons.

 BUILDING MENTAL HEALTH FACILITIES 5

Treatment Advocacy Center. (2017). How many people with serious mental illness are homeless?

Retrieved from http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/fixing-the-system/features-and-

news/2596-how-many-people-with-serious-mental-illness-are-homeless.

U.S. Department of Justice. Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report. James, D. J., Glaze, L.E.

(2006). Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved from

https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/mhppji.pdf

World Health Organization. (2003). Custodial Psychiatric Hospitals in Conflict Situations. Retrieved

from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/background/2003/back4/en/