California's mentally ill inmate population keeps
growing. And state money isn't enough to meet needs, lawmaker says

Los Angeles Times | By JAZMINE ULLOA FEB 02, 2018 | 12:05 AM | SACRAMENTO

Gov. Jerry Brown has earmarked $117 million in
his new state budget to expand the number of
treatment beds and mental health programs for
more than 800 mentally ill inmates found incompetent to stand trial.

State officials said they have struggled to keep
up with the needs of a population that has jumped
in size by 33% over the last three years, as
judges are increasingly referring defendants to
treatment. But one state lawmaker says additional funds are not enough.

Legislators, he said, need to update the laws
used by judges to evaluate the mental health of
people charged with crimes. And he has proposed
his own legislation to keep mentally ill
offenders out of the criminal justice system.

"It seems to me that the courts, the behavioral
health people, law enforcement, social work —
everybody should get together and try to solve
that problem," Sen. Jim Beall (D-San Jose) said
at a recent budget committee hearing. "Because
it's like a bottomless pit if we don't reform."

Under California law, a judge can find a person
charged with a crime incompetent to stand trial
if they have a mental disorder or developmental
disability that prevents them from understanding
court proceedings or helping their lawyer with
their defense. Depending on the severity of the
alleged crime, defendants are supposed to be
moved to a state hospital, a community mental
health facility or a special jail unit to receive
treatment for 180 days before undergoing another court evaluation.

Felony defendants can repeat that legal process
for up to three years, misdemeanor inmates up to
one. Inmates who do not improve can be placed
under the care of a guardian or organization and
some are confined in mental health facilities,
but most are released back on the streets without
resources to address their chronic conditions.

Beall argues the legal process fails to reflect
advances in psychiatric and medical treatment.
Defendants are committed to treatment for up to
three years, when it can take only months or even
weeks to determine whether medication will
diminish the symptoms of mental illness and allow
defendants to stand trial, according to Laura
Arnold of the California Public Defenders Assn.

"The competency system is broken," Arnold said.
"The main reason, I believe, is that the
three-year maximum term of commitment hasn't been revisited since 1974."

As of December, 840 inmates in county jails were
awaiting space in state hospitals or other
treatment facilities. Most had a major psychotic
or mood disorder and multiple arrests, according
to state data. Nearly half had been homeless and
did not have access to California's healthcare
system for the poor, Medi-Cal, in the six months before their arrest.

If the Legislature approves the governor's
budget, the state funds earmarked by Brown would
help counties create or expand mental health
programs that divert inmates away from jail and
into treatment in their communities.

Most of the money would go to the 15 California
counties with the largest populations of felony
offenders found incompetent to stand trial. The
highest number is in Los Angeles County, where
the state plans to spend at least $15 million in
the next year to treat up to 150 patients in community facilities.

Mental health experts said they hope the funds
will encourage counties to divert mentally ill
offenders away from the criminal justice system
before they are charged with a crime or are found incompetent to stand trial.

Anne Hadreas, supervising attorney with
Disability Rights of California, said the state
doesn't have to overhaul competency laws to cut
the state hospital waiting lists if officials
rethink how services are provided for defendants.

"Do we start trying to provide them before
someone gets arrested?" she said. "Do we start
trying to provide them in lieu of going to jail at all?"

Beall has been thinking the same thing. A bill he
introduced this legislative session would allow
judges to place mentally ill defendants in
pretrial diversion programs for up to two years
in lieu of prosecution. A similar proposal from
Beall was shelved last year amid fiscal concerns.

Beall says he hopes his new legislation has a better chance of passing.

"People tend to slide backward when people are in
the jail and the prisons," he said. "It creates
worse and more expensive problems."

Source link:
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-mental-health-incompetent-trial-costs-20180202-story.html