Care before jail

Flint, Michigan is currently implementing a pilot mental health court program to help reduce the number of individuals with a severe mental illness that get caught in the state’s jails and prisons. Mental health courts are laudable and we hope they continue to be embraced throughout the country. But people shouldn’t have to be arrested to get the care they need.

With the passage of Kevin’s Law, Michigan gave its citizens a proven option for obtaining needed mental health treatment without the burden of the criminal process. It is already a reality in other parts of Michigan. The citizens of Genesee County deserve that same opportunity.

It's time for treatment before the crime

An op-ed by Jeff Gerritt at the Detroit Free Press calls for treatment rather than incarceration for those with severe mental illnesses who have committed a crime. Before suggesting a solution, Gerritt delves into the sad history of abandoning the mentally ill. As he so explains:

A solution is long overdue. When Michigan closed most of its mental hospitals in the 1990s, the mentally ill didn't just disappear. They ended up on the street, in homeless shelters, and, increasingly, in jails and prisons. One sheriff called the state's jails and prisons the new asylums. Today, nearly 25% of Michigan's 51,000 prison inmates are mentally ill.

No doubt, putting mentally ill people in a freer, less costly setting was a good idea. But as institutions closed, the state failed to invest in community mental health programs. People with severe mental and emotional problems went untreated.

The op-ed goes on to support the creation of mental-health courts to steer people with mental illnesses who have committed a crime into treatment rather than jail or prison. This is a good step for those already in the forensic system.

An even better step? Using Michigan’s assisted outpatient treatment law – known as Kevin’s law- to get treatment BEFORE a crime is committed.