|
|
| State struggles to care for mentally ill |
| By Quad-City Times |
| Published: 02/19/2008 |
|
IOWA - Matthew Ward said he wanted to kill himself last year while in a Fort Madison prison cell. The 21-year-old Mason City man was serving a 30-year sentence for burglary convictions and felt depressed and hopeless. The state then sent him to the Oakdale state prison here, where he improved after receiving medication and checkups from mental health professionals. Ward was one of the lucky ones. State officials acknowledge they are struggling to keep up with the growing number of mentally ill inmates and need more resources to help them rebuild their lives. The Iowa Department of Corrections reports that about 40 percent of its inmates have mental illness. Prison officials also say the dramatic growth of Iowa's prison population _ up 201 percent over the past two decades _ hasn't been matched by an increase in prison mental health services. "We do have rather limited resources to try to manage and care for them," said Dr. Bruce Sieleni, a psychiatrist and mental health services director for the Department of Corrections. "We need a lot more emphasis on funding for the care of the mentally ill." Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
|
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think