Criminal Justice / Mental Health Consensus Project

Fiscal Implications

People with mental illness are significantly overrepresented in the criminal justice system

The rate of mental illness in state prisons and jails in the United States (16%) is at least three times the rate in the general population (5%). The rates of mental illness in Oregon state prisons and county jails are at least this high. ⁱ

At least three-quarters of people with mental illness who are incarcerated have a co-occurring substance abuse disorder. ⁱⁱ

Men who have been involved in the New York State public mental health system are four times more likely to be incarcerated than men in the general population. For women, the ratio is six to one. ⁱⁱⁱ

Many of them have committed minor crimes

Nearly half the inmates with a mental illness in state or federal prison in the United States are incarcerated for committing a nonviolent crime.^iv

They stay longer in prison and jail

On Riker's Island, New York Citys largest jail, the average length of stay for all offenders is 42 days; it is 215 days for inmates with a serious mental illness. ^v

In Pennsylvania state prisons, during the year 2000, inmates with serious mental illness were three times as likely to serve their maximum sentence as other inmates. ^vi

They are extremely expensive to incarcerate

The Monroe County, New York Jail spends approximately $315,000 per year on overtime for deputies who are conducting twenty-four hour suicide watch. ^vii

The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections estimates that it costs approximately $80 per day to incarcerate an average inmate and $140 per day to incarcerate a person with serious mental illness. ^viii

And, without a coordinated response, many will be treated through expensive public safety and crisis services

During the year 2000, taxpayers of King County, Washington spent over $1.1 million on drug and alcohol acute services and criminal justice resources for just 20 individuals. ^ix

In Summit County, Ohio, during the year 2001, the cost to taxpayers for a similar group of 20 individuals was $1.3 million. ^x

Programs that provide intensive community-based services to individuals with mental illness who have been involved with the criminal justice system have proven extremely cost-effective.

Preliminary findings from a federally sponsored multi-site diversion project indicate that diverting people with mental illness from the criminal justice system generates statistically significant savings equal to the cost of the added services that individuals receive in the community.

ⁱ Paula M. Ditton, Mental Health Treatment of Inmates and Probationers, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice. Unpublished statistics regarding Oregon courtesy of Gary Field, Oregon Department of Corrections and Richard Sherman, Lane County Sheriffs Office.

ⁱⁱ National GAINS Center, The Courage to Change.

ⁱⁱⁱ Judith F. Cox, Pamela C. Morschauser, Steven Banks, James L. Stone, "A Five- Year Population Study of Persons Involved in the Mental Health and Local Correctional Systems," Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research 28:2 May 2001, 177-87.

^iv Ditton, Mental Health Treatment, p. 1.

^v Fox Butterfield, "Prisons Replace Hospitals for the Nation's Mentally Ill," New York Times, March 5, 1998, A1.

^vi From unpublished description of Forensic Community Re-Entry and Rehabilitation for Female Prison Inmates with Mental Illness, Mental Retardation, and Co-occurring Disorders program, courtesy of Angela Sager, Grants Manager.

^vii Unpublished statistic courtesy of Captain John Caceci, Monroe County Sheriffs Office, Monroe County, New York.

^viii Unpublished statistic courtesy of John Shaffer, Ph.D., Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.

^ix Unpublished statistic courtesy of Patrick Vanzo, Administrator, Cross Systems Integration Efforts, Department of Community and Human Services, King County, WA. This figure does not include the costs for police time, ambulance services, sobering van services, county designate mental health professional services, or administrative costs associated with these services.

^x Unpublished statistic courtesy of Dr. Mark Munetz, Chief Clinical Officer, Summit County, Ohio, ADM Board.

^xi Statistics available at www.thresholds.org.

^xii Unpublished data courtesy of J. Steven Lamberti, MD, Associate Chair for Clinical Programs, University of Rochester Medical Center.

^xiii Alexander J. Cowell, Andrew M. Stewart, and Sho Wen Ng, Assessment of the Cost-Effectiveness of Tucson's Jail Diversion Program, unpublished report, Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, April 2002. (Supported by the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration.) Also, Cowell et. al., Assessment of the Cost-Effectiveness of Eugenes Jail Diversion Program.