Thanks to Sandrine Ageorges for passing this along, from the San Antonio Express-News ("County hires 4 new public defenders," February 15, 2008):
"Bexar County officials have hired four mental health public defenders. Officials said Anne Mulligan and Kevin McManus will be civil public defenders, representing people at hearings that determine whether they should be committed to the state mental hospital. Julia Garcia and Ellen Pitluk were hired as criminal public defenders, officials said. Garcia and Pitluk will work in the mental health misdemeanor court to be run by County Court 12 Judge Michael Mery."
Travis County established the state's first Mental Health Public Defender's Office, in Austin.
Showing posts with label Bexar County. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bexar County. Show all posts
Monday, February 18, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Addressing Texas' Overpopulated Prisons
Last week at a statewide symposium organized by the Bexar County Commissioner, policymakers and criminal justice experts discussed ideas for addressing Texas' overpopulated prisons (Texas has the second largest-prison population in the country). Several panelists expressed concern about the increased criminalization of non-violent offenders with mental illness, which has resulted in severe overcrowding at local jails. The Bexar County Jail, for example, is 96% full.
Here are excerpts from an article that appeared in the San Antonio Express-News ("Suggestions given for overflowing prisons," February 11, 2008):
"Having reached a critical mass in its prison and jail populations, Texas needs to work harder to divert substance abusers and mentally ill inmates from the system, better equip the wave of those who are released each year and implement alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders, a group of policymakers and criminal justice experts said Thursday.
Although the state's prison and jail systems have long complained of overcrowding, the situation has become dire, as there are not enough prisons or jails to house those who are arrested every day. And even if there were, experts said, the systems are woefully understaffed for the volume. ..."
and
"In Bexar County, about 25 percent of the jail's population is mentally ill, said Leon Evans, president of the San Antonio-based Center for Health Care Services, a non-profit partnership with University Hospital that tries to divert mentally ill people before they get arrested. The program has been showcased as a model for other counties and states. Evans estimated the group screens about 500 mentally ill people a month who would otherwise have ended up in jail or in emergency rooms because police officers don't know where to take them.
"There's a growing realization that we have a system of incarceration that mainly deals with the mentally ill or with drug offenders," said Tony Fabelo, the symposium's keynote speaker and director of research for the Council of State Government's Justice Center.
Fabelo said incarceration is such a common experience for some people that it's not regarded as a deterrent to committing crime. In Texas, he said, the growth of the prison population has outpaced that of the state: Between 1980 and 2005, the state jail population jumped 61 percent and the prison population by 310 percent. Meanwhile, the state's overall population grew 61.3 percent.
Nearly two-thirds of felons are re-arrested within three years of their release, said John Byrd, a criminal justice professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio. In Bexar County Jail, Adkisson said, about 81 percent of the inmates have been there before.
Policymakers and elected leaders must make it easier, under certain circumstances, for offenders to post bail, the panelists said, and use better pre-trial services to reduce the number of those awaiting trial. ..."
Read the full article.
Here are excerpts from an article that appeared in the San Antonio Express-News ("Suggestions given for overflowing prisons," February 11, 2008):
"Having reached a critical mass in its prison and jail populations, Texas needs to work harder to divert substance abusers and mentally ill inmates from the system, better equip the wave of those who are released each year and implement alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders, a group of policymakers and criminal justice experts said Thursday.
Although the state's prison and jail systems have long complained of overcrowding, the situation has become dire, as there are not enough prisons or jails to house those who are arrested every day. And even if there were, experts said, the systems are woefully understaffed for the volume. ..."
and
"In Bexar County, about 25 percent of the jail's population is mentally ill, said Leon Evans, president of the San Antonio-based Center for Health Care Services, a non-profit partnership with University Hospital that tries to divert mentally ill people before they get arrested. The program has been showcased as a model for other counties and states. Evans estimated the group screens about 500 mentally ill people a month who would otherwise have ended up in jail or in emergency rooms because police officers don't know where to take them.
"There's a growing realization that we have a system of incarceration that mainly deals with the mentally ill or with drug offenders," said Tony Fabelo, the symposium's keynote speaker and director of research for the Council of State Government's Justice Center.
Fabelo said incarceration is such a common experience for some people that it's not regarded as a deterrent to committing crime. In Texas, he said, the growth of the prison population has outpaced that of the state: Between 1980 and 2005, the state jail population jumped 61 percent and the prison population by 310 percent. Meanwhile, the state's overall population grew 61.3 percent.
Nearly two-thirds of felons are re-arrested within three years of their release, said John Byrd, a criminal justice professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio. In Bexar County Jail, Adkisson said, about 81 percent of the inmates have been there before.
Policymakers and elected leaders must make it easier, under certain circumstances, for offenders to post bail, the panelists said, and use better pre-trial services to reduce the number of those awaiting trial. ..."
Read the full article.
Monday, September 24, 2007
New Mental Health Court in Bexar County
Bexar County now joins El Paso and Dallas Counties in establishing a mental health court, which addresses the needs of those with mental illness who come into contact with the criminal justice system. Travis County has a special public defender's office for defendants with mental illness. The Justice Center, which implements the Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project, estimates that well over 150 mental health courts are in operation across the country.
Here's a September 23, 2007 editorial from the San Antonio Express-News:
Editorial: For the mentally ill, grant is sign of hope
"Inadequate funding over the years has resulted in a shortage of mental health beds at state hospitals and a growing number of mentally ill individuals in the criminal justice system. Incarceration is an expensive alternative, and it usually does not adequately address the health problems of such defendants. This is clearly illustrated in today's column on Craig Stiffler by Gloria Padilla.
A recently awarded $250,000 grant from the Justice Department to fund a mental health court in Bexar County will go a long way in reducing some of the problems. A portion of the grant will fund two probation officers trained to work with the mentally ill and assigned to a court that will handle some of the mental health criminal docket.
At present, mentally ill criminal defendants are participating in a jail diversion program if they enter a plea and are placed on probation. The program is helping reduce the jail population, but it is doing little to assist the defendants themselves. With the hiring of the specially trained probation officers, Bexar County officials hope to provide a continuum of care for about 80 defendants whose cases will be assigned to County Court-at-Law No. 5 Judge Tim Johnson.
During the past decade, the county has been working to isolate the mentally ill from the regular docket and give them the individualized attention they need, but the sheer volume of the dockets has made that task difficult. Hiring two probation officers whose workload will be limited to 40 cases each, as opposed to the regular caseload of 100 or more, will help tremendously.
The county's next goal is to find the money to establish a public defender's office to represent the mentally ill in court. Without someone looking out for their best interests, the mentally ill tend to have longer stays in jail than the regular population. Their stays are also more expensive. A day in a regular jail bed is about $50 as opposed to $250 for a mental health bed.
If there were adequate health services available for the mentally ill, many of them would not end up in jail. The opening of the Haven for Hope campus of services for the homeless at the end of 2008 will help address a big part of that problem. It will bring together in one location the various agencies that provide resources for the homeless. The criminal justice system, however, also must continue to find ways to address the problem. It is in the best interest of mentally ill patients and the taxpayers to keep the mentally ill out of the county jail and assist them in finding the help they need. The wheels of justice for the mentally ill move slowly, but it's encouraging to see they are gaining momentum."
http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/editorials/stories/MYSA092307.02H.mental_health1ed.21c46ad.html
Here's a September 23, 2007 editorial from the San Antonio Express-News:
Editorial: For the mentally ill, grant is sign of hope
"Inadequate funding over the years has resulted in a shortage of mental health beds at state hospitals and a growing number of mentally ill individuals in the criminal justice system. Incarceration is an expensive alternative, and it usually does not adequately address the health problems of such defendants. This is clearly illustrated in today's column on Craig Stiffler by Gloria Padilla.
A recently awarded $250,000 grant from the Justice Department to fund a mental health court in Bexar County will go a long way in reducing some of the problems. A portion of the grant will fund two probation officers trained to work with the mentally ill and assigned to a court that will handle some of the mental health criminal docket.
At present, mentally ill criminal defendants are participating in a jail diversion program if they enter a plea and are placed on probation. The program is helping reduce the jail population, but it is doing little to assist the defendants themselves. With the hiring of the specially trained probation officers, Bexar County officials hope to provide a continuum of care for about 80 defendants whose cases will be assigned to County Court-at-Law No. 5 Judge Tim Johnson.
During the past decade, the county has been working to isolate the mentally ill from the regular docket and give them the individualized attention they need, but the sheer volume of the dockets has made that task difficult. Hiring two probation officers whose workload will be limited to 40 cases each, as opposed to the regular caseload of 100 or more, will help tremendously.
The county's next goal is to find the money to establish a public defender's office to represent the mentally ill in court. Without someone looking out for their best interests, the mentally ill tend to have longer stays in jail than the regular population. Their stays are also more expensive. A day in a regular jail bed is about $50 as opposed to $250 for a mental health bed.
If there were adequate health services available for the mentally ill, many of them would not end up in jail. The opening of the Haven for Hope campus of services for the homeless at the end of 2008 will help address a big part of that problem. It will bring together in one location the various agencies that provide resources for the homeless. The criminal justice system, however, also must continue to find ways to address the problem. It is in the best interest of mentally ill patients and the taxpayers to keep the mentally ill out of the county jail and assist them in finding the help they need. The wheels of justice for the mentally ill move slowly, but it's encouraging to see they are gaining momentum."
http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/editorials/stories/MYSA092307.02H.mental_health1ed.21c46ad.html
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