In a recent article written by Mike McPhee of Colorado Public News, Mr. McPhee traces the history of one of the most significant pioneering programs in Colorado Jurisprudence....the Arapahoe Distirct Court's Mental Health Court.
District Attorney Carol Chambers, former Senior Public Defender Gina Shimmeall and Chief Judge Bill Sylvester - representing all sides of the criminal justice system - came together in 2010 and launched this excellent alternative to the constant and repreated incarceration in the Department of Corrections of the mentally ill.
Mr. McPhee's story follows the iife of "Barbara " a 50-year old woman who has struggled all her life just to maintain, sometimes just to survive... and (who) inherited severe mental illness and suffers from severe depression with psychotic episodes... as well as suffering from severe diabetes, severe arthritis, a bad heart, high blood pressure and pancreatitis.
Barbara has 11 prior felony convictions and had spent over 25 years in prison.
In McPhee's article - he points out that Colorado taxpayers have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep Barbara locked up in prison. " with no success.
"Like most mentally ill defendants, Barbara found herself in a revolving door of serving time in prison, getting out, committing more crimes, being convicted again, and ending up back behind bars. But now, Barbara is changing her life, thanks to a mental health court in Arapahoe County that is ensuring she gets treatment. Taxpayers could save hundreds of thousands of dollars if she keeps succeeding and never returns to prison."
Colorado ranks 49th in funding for the treatment of the mentally ill. Our prisons are full of Barbara's - too poor to obtain proper mental health treatment and not capable of surviving without violating the law.
It is a well known statistic in the prison system - that at least 25 percent of Colorado's prison population is mentally ill.
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The state's prisons do not provide the therapy these individuals need and they "the inmates leave with the same problems and commit the same crimes.
H. MIchael's Take:
The Arapahoe County Mental Health Court deserves our support. It is not only humane and Christian - it makes sense from every angle -- fiscally, efficiency, and justice. Support it if you are in a position to help.
The Arapahoe County Mental Health Court, helps stop - or maybe just slow down the revolving door that mentally ill defendants are placed in. The results have been very promising.
"Convicted felons with mental illness, like Barbara, are placed into an intensely supervised, highly structured environment with lots of counseling. Group therapy sessions include heavy doses of peer pressure, open displays of encouragement, and congratulations for meeting goals."
"Not one of the Arapahoe County Mental Health Court's 40 habitual, mentally ill felons like Barbara has committed a new crime in 17 months of existence. That's compared to a previous repeat crime rate of nearly 100 percent for the program's participants. The Colorado Department of Corrections says that overall, 50 percent of its prisoners are back within five years.
"Once they've served their time in prison, these people have no support system when they're released," said Barbara Becker, a counselor for the nonprofit Arapahoe/Douglas Mental Health Network, a private agency that works with the mentally ill. "They lose their meds, they return to alcohol and drugs and re-engage in criminal behavior. It's a revolving door."
For Mr. McPhee's article click here
