Inmates with mental health issues have long posed a problem for corrections officials, judges and administrators. Now, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has developed a program to address the issue – and help mentally ill offenders who could potentially benefit from alternative housing programs, therapy, and outpatient care for inmates after they are released.

“We are doing everything we can to reduce the discrimination against the mentally ill in corrections,” says Dee Wilson, Director of the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments (TCCOMMI). “It's been a slow process in Texas, but it is working. It has to remain a focal point of our resources, and we will continue to give these inmates everything they need for their mental health issues.”

TCCOMMI, which is funded by Texas state legislature, is a state-wide initiative that finds and develops programs for jail diversion, juvenile probation programs and new inmate screening processes -- all of which are specifically geared for the mentally ill. According to Wilson, these programs are desperately needed to offer alternatives for mentally ill inmates, many of whom require extra attention and have needs that are more complex than other offenders.

“Many folks that get arrested with mental illnesses have no homes or resources, or have substance abuse issues,” Wilson says. “This needs to be addressed on a state-wide basis, and we need to identify those who have mental illnesses early on.”

The mentally ill make up a noteworthy percentage of the prison population; the U.S. Justice Department estimates that nearly 16% of U.S. inmates are mentally ill. Furthermore, mentally ill inmates are more expensive to house, costing facilities almost double the amount to incarcerate than an inmate with no mental problems. According to Wilson, diversion away from criminal justice programs is easier to accomplish if officials can identify mentally ill offenders earlier rather than later.

Making Changes

“We have focused a lot of our efforts on expediting mental health records. We changed the law in Texas,” Wilson says. “Before this program, an officer would pick up ‘John Smith' and call a mental health hospital for his records. But hospitals could not release the information, so you had offenders being screened two and three times at different facilities just because of legal issues.”

In order to make the process more effective, mental health facilities are now able to share patient records with corrections officials, saving time and resources. Every person arrested in Texas has their name cross referenced so that within 72 hours, the correctional facility knows if that person has a mental health issue – even before sentencing. Additionally, every offender is screened for mental illnesses as soon as they enter the state corrections system. Wilson says that these changes in process and state legislature have significantly reduced recidivism.

“There is no doubt that legislature has made mental illness a priority, and continues to make it a priority,” Wilson says. “Everything we have accomplished has been a collaboration of a number of entities, and it has been a great experience for us. The bottom line is, we are developing, and have developed, a good and responsive system for the mentally ill offenders in our state.”

TCCOMMI has established a number of programs throughout counties in Texas, all of which address mental health issues on a local level. These programs are specifically geared towards inmates who suffer from schizophrenia, bi-polar disorders, and major depression. TCCOMMI has focused all of its efforts on offenders with serious mental illnesses because they are chemically based and life-long.

“Our priority has to be those who are seriously mentally ill,” says Wilson. “It's not that we want to minimize people with anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder, but we feel that we had to narrow the focus of our efforts and resources.”

To find out where the seriously mentally ill are located among the state's 600,000 offenders, TCCOMMI started to change the way they processed data in order to get a more detailed picture of the situation.

“We decided to run the numbers of our entire offender population, including parolees, against the state-wide system of mental health database, which includes local and state hospitals for the mentally ill,” Wilson says. “We found that 17% of the offenders in the TDCJ have received services for mental illnesses. We also found that the prison system had the highest percentage of mental illness, compared to parolees and those on probation.”

Wilson cites that the numbers for the mentally ill are higher in prison because it's easier to revoke parole for the mentally ill. Those with mental illnesses are more likely to miss court dates, stop taking medications and burn bridges with family members who could have helped them.

This data prompted TCCOMMI to develop an alternative housing program, which is being established and expanded. Many mentally ill offenders end up in jail because of issues relating to their illness, and TCCOMMI realized that another option might cut down on jail overcrowding and aid and support to mentally ill offenders – and not just during incarceration.

Residential Housing Options and Post-Release Care

“We are collaboratively funding with the adult probation system to create residential options for mentally ill inmates,” Wilson says. “This gives the courts another option to consider, rather than immediately sentencing the mentally ill to jail time. We provide a stable living environment for these offenders.”

Wilson adds that this housing option is in short supply in Texas, and across the country. However, TCCOMMI is working hard to address the issue and create more space for the mentally ill. According to Wilson, these residential options are crucial for the health and development of the mentally ill, and will benefit the state in the long run.

“We need an alternative,” says Wilson. “We need to divert people to these housing options instead of jail, or place them there rather than revoking parole. In these housing units, we have even established a way to reward the offenders, in a sense. If they do well, they are moved to less intensive supervision, so that is added motivation.”

With all of these programs established throughout counties in Texas, Wilson says effectiveness within the corrections system has been improved, and inmates are more likely to be treated for mental illness as soon as they are arrested. Furthermore, the help continues beyond facility walls, and helps these offenders make the transition back into society.

“We are offering a wraparound service, which I think has been very successful,” Wilson says. “We offer medication, psychiatric time, rehabilitation, group rehabilitation and even in-home support to help these offenders after they are released. We are taking care of them in prison and out of prison. And at the end of the day, that's going to lower recidivism.”