Lake County program would aim to keep mentally ill out of jail
Lake County law enforcement, government and health officials are trying to create an ambitious program that would use early police intervention to stem recidivism among mentally ill people who commit nonviolent crimes.
More training for police officers and a 24-hour crisis center are among the proposals being considered by a team of county officials, with the aim of providing immediate treatment to keep offenders out of Lake County jail and off clogged court calendars.
The Lake County Board has tentatively budgeted $35,000 to begin training police officers at the College of Lake County to help recognize various mental health crises they could see on the street. And the county has received a $1 million substance abuse and mental health grant to research, collect data and get the all sides involved in the issue talking.
The training money is expected to be approved when the county fiscal budget is authorized in November.
"The reality is that the largest receptacle for people with mental illness is in the jail or in prisons," said Lake County Judge Christopher Stride, who presides over the mental health court at the county courthouse in Waukegan. "But the truth is, jail is not the place to put a large number of these people who are suffering from mental illnesses."
Figures released by the county in May state that of the approximately 9,000 adults locked up in the Lake County jail in 2014, about a third were habitual criminals who had been there before. Forty percent of prisoners in jail in February 2015 received psychotropic medication to treat various mental health issues, officials said.
Lake County Undersheriff Ray Rose said law enforcement and court procedures contribute to creating a cycle of crime for habitual offenders with mental illness.
Currently, a person with a mental health issue who commits a nonviolent crime - such as theft, disorderly conduct and various drug crimes - is arrested and booked into Lake County jail, then goes before a judge in a hearing where a mental health evaluation is ordered, he said.
In jail, the person is examined by a mental health expert and placed on medication to address his or her illness, Rose said. The person remains on the prescribed medication while incarcerated and going through the court process, he said, but the medication stops after the court case concludes, the person serves the required jail time and is released.
The cycle of crime often repeats, especially if the person doesn't have the physical or financial access to the medication used to treat his or her illness, he said.
"The best solution would be to move the interpretation of the mental health crisis to the first point of contact, by the officer," Rose said. "Instead of taking the person to jail, the person would be taken to a mental health crisis center where they are evaluated."
To make the program work, Rose said, officers must be trained to quickly determine if a mental health crisis is involved. Once the person has been evaluated and treated, the officer can make a determination if charges should be filed, Rose said.
"We are wasting money on housing them but not getting them the treatment they need," he said. "Now, all sides are realizing that, talking about ways to fix it and getting the people trained."
After people leave the center, Rose said, the program's goal is to provide them with follow-up care and discounted medication through the crisis center and other social service agencies.
"Our goal is to make this a communitywide county effort to make an impact on mental health," he added.
Lake County Board member Sandra Hart, a Democrat from Lake Bluff, said the health department is looking for a location for a 24-hour crisis intervention center. Officials are exploring options on how to pay for the program and the follow-up care, Hart said, but she added that money saved from not having to house habitual offenders at the jail is envisioned as part of the funding.
"The cost of treating and following up with people in need of mental health treatment is nothing compared to housing and treating someone in jail multiple times a year," Hart said. "Finding a place for a 24-hour crisis intervention center will take time."
Officials said it's unknown how long it will take to get the full program up and running. Hart said she would like to see the program in place as soon as possible but added a timeline has not been established yet.
"In a perfect world, there would be a better alternative for people who are suffering mental health issues than simply incarcerating them," Stride said. "For a lot of these folks who are committing lesser offenses, treatment would work better than incarceration."