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| Q&A: Prison expert Soffiyah Elijah on reducing prison costs, drug-related crimes |
| By amny.com/ - SheilaAnne Feeney |
| Published: 11/14/2012 |
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Soffiyah Elijah, 57, is the executive director of the Correctional Association of New York, which monitors conditions in state prisons. The first woman and first person of color to head the 170-year-old organization, she lives in Park Slope with her parents and the elder of her two sons. Q. What would you most like to see changed in New York? A. For us to take resources -- not just money, but brain power -- and devise solutions to incarceration, especially for young people and the mentally ill, outside of the criminal justice system. How many times have I seen the police surrounding someone who has an obvious mental health problem? How that person is going to react is so predictable! Most police officers know within the first three minutes if they're dealing with someone who is disturbed. If a response team of social workers could be brought to the scene, we could have much better outcomes. Having the involvement of knowledgeable social workers could cut down on deaths and allow police officers to deal with real crime. We need to decriminalize mental illness. Q. How do we finesse the rights of the mentally ill when they are involved in violent crimes? A. We could have mental health courts! This was done in Boston and it was amazingly successful. Of course, we also need to restore mental health facilities for the people who need them so treatment is available. It costs about $56,000 a year to incarcerate someone. You could provide a whole lot of mental health services for a lot less than that. I'm not minimizing the fact the person may have done something dangerous or violent, but a person with mental illness is not best served in a prison setting. If we don't get their mental illness issues resolved, the likelihood they will hurt someone else again is increased. Correctional officers, too, would rather the state find somewhere else to put these people. Read More. |
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