A package of bills has advanced from the state House to the Senate to give law enforcement officials more options to help people in the justice system with serious mental health and medical conditions.
If approved, the legislation would allow some frail, elderly inmates and others who are extremely ill to be paroled for medical or psychiatric care and/or placed in nursing homes or other care facilities. The options would only be available to inmates who are assessed as no longer posing danger to society.
‘A sizeable percentage of those incarcerated have serious health conditions, both mental and physical, which our corrections system is simply not best equipped to handle,’ said Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard. ‘Giving more flexibility to law enforcement to move inmates to facilities that can provide appropriate care simply makes sense. It will reduce costs, reduce burdens on the corrections system, ensure individualized and appropriate treatment which will reduce the likelihood of recidivism, and overall improve public safety.’
The proposed reforms resulted from hearings held throughout the state last fall and summer to collect input and develop policy recommendations regarding mental health challenges.
In 2016, an estimated 9,395 inmates in state prisons had a severe mental illness. In Oakland County, an average of 35% of its inmate population is on a medication for mental health, according to the sheriff’s office.
‘The goal must always be safety,’ said representative Martin Howrylak, the sponsor of one of the bills. ‘ We want to ensure that people are more likely to be contributing members of society when they leave the custody of the state than when they enter. These measures will expand the ability of law enforcement and our Department of Corrections to better utilize state resources to address the serious medical and mental health issues many individuals in the justice system face.’
Last week, the House advanced three other measures, all sponsored by representative Klint Kesto, to reduce wait time for mental health evaluations from six months or more to 30-45 days for people in the criminal justice system. One of the measures also calls for directing the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to use all available resources, including certifying additional facilities to share the statewide workload.
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