The Economist reports that President John F. Kennedy’s well-intentioned plan to treat mentally ill individuals outside of a mental health facility is the cause behind an upsurge in the number of inmates with mental health issues. As funding for mental health facilities were slashed, existing facilities closed or could afford to treat only a small amount of patients. The mentally ill were, and still are, sent to jail and prison , often for minor infractions.
Today, The Economist tells us, one Chicago jail can be considered the largest (or, second largest) mental health facility in America, and other prisons and jails are fast becoming more like a mental institution than a correctional facility.
The financial cost of incarcerating a mentally-ill person has skyrocketed, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight, unless mental health professionals, legislators, corrections and the community come up with a viable solution to a complex problem.
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