Mentally ill, crimes focus of state team
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
Top Hawai'i health and criminal justice officials are in Boston today seeking new solutions to an old dilemma: how to appropriately deal with mentally ill people accused of crimes.
The state's nine-member delegation will attend the three-day National Corrections Conference on Mental Illness, sponsored by the U.S. Justice Department. They hope to present Gov. Ben Cayetano with an action plan when they return, said state health director Bruce Anderson.
"I'm hoping we can develop an effective strategy to identify, treat and monitor individuals with mental illness who are in the corrections system," he said yesterday from Boston. "We're looking at a number of options, but I strongly feel we need an alternative to the State Hospital for treating individuals in the criminal justice system."
Hawai'i's delegation also includes Attorney General Earl Anzai, Department of Public Safety Director Ted Sakai, state criminal administrative Judge Richard Perkins, courts administrator Michael Broderick, and Rep. Nestor Garcia, chairman of the House Public Safety and Military Affairs Committee.
The state has long struggled to handle the mentally ill who end up in the criminal courts. On one hand, it has been sued for allegedly holding such people in prison illegally and failing to treat them. On the other, it has been criticized for frequent escapes from the hospital by potentially violent patients sent there by the courts.
"The courts don't seem to know what to do with them so they send them to the State Hospital," Anderson said. "Many of the problems at the State Hospital are associated with people who shouldn't be there."
Cayetano believes the situation needs close attention and is optimistic that officials will bring back some solid suggestions.
"He said we want to see what ideas other jurisdictions on the Mainland have in addressing the situation that we have in Hawai'i," the governor's spokeswoman Kim Murakawa said. "Because this is a common problem, we can learn from other areas."
In a report released Monday, the Justice Department estimated that one-fifth of the 191,000 mentally ill inmates in the nation's state prisons receive no treatment. And only 10 percent of mentally ill male inmates receive treatment, the report found. But some mental health specialists believe even those dismal estimates are too optimistic.
Anderson agreed that the national problem is huge and said Hawai'i has three likely courses of action: to establish a high-security psychiatric unit at the hospital, to set up such a unit at one of the state's prisons, or to build a facility elsewhere. More community-based treatment facilities also are needed for people who exit the system, he added.
"One of the problems is that there are no alternatives, so people end up sitting in the State Hospital for longer than they should be there, and eventually they leave (on their own)," Anderson said. "We need to develop a range of options."
The state also needs more substance abuse treatment programs for prisoners, and officials should recognize that they are cost-effective, he said.
"If we don't invest in those programs, we'll spend more to address problems down the line, because if people don't get treatment in prison and support outside, they're going to end up back in jail," said Anderson. "Whatever we spend on treatment will be cheaper than having to pay for the incarceration of these individuals if we don't provide treatment."
You can reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
