Mentally ill languish in Texas jails despite funding hike
Longview News-JournalMay 30, 2017
Lampkin, 35, has both intellectual disabilities and a mental illness, and without treatment, the court couldn't reassess her competency to stand trial on an assault charge for allegedly slapping a child, which might at least allow her case to progress.
"I don't think she understands why she remains in jail," said her attorney,
Lampkin is one of hundreds of mentally ill
The average wait for a maximum-security inmate to get in-patient psychiatric treatment has nearly doubled in the past two years, to 127 days, according to the
For inmates such as Lampkin with intellectual disabilities and a mental illness, the average wait is more than three times as long, at 417 days. That's partly because the state has only one unit dedicated to the treatment of such inmates, said
"People who are charged but not convicted are supposed to be let out on bond," said Mitchell, whose group has a class-action lawsuit pending against the state that argues the long waits are unconstitutional. "But in this case, these people can't get put out on bond because they don't have the capacity to agree to bond."
"
The state has tried to improve the situation in the past couple of years, and the Legislature plans to allocate more funds for mental health before its current session ends Monday. But thus far, the efforts have only helped to slow a worsening problem, not reverse its course.
Since ranking last in the nation in per-resident mental health spending in 2009,
Although state mental hospitals went from housing 1,144 inmates in 2015 to 1,239 at the start of this year, the increase hasn't kept pace with the pace of
Price said it's important for the state to identify and treat the mentally ill before they get arrested, as once they end up in the criminal justice system, they typically have more serious mental illnesses that require longer hospital stays.
"In the past, we were trying to build more hospital capacity, but we want to add to that more effort on the front end," said Price, who is pushing for more preventive services, including outpatient treatment and community mental health services . Currently individuals often seek help in the community or in state mental hospitals, only to be turned away because of a lack of space, advocates said.
SHARE