The number of prisoners with mental illnesses in the United States reaches past 352,000, surpassing the  population of Pittsburgh by more than 50,000 people. 

 

U.S.  jails and prisons have become overcrowded, in part because of a deficiency in the care needed by those suffering from mental illnesses. This overpopulation of inmates can be attributed to simultaneous changes in policy: the ‘war on drugs,’ an increase in mandatory minimum sentences, and the closure of many mental health facilities within the United States.

     

In the country with the largest incarceration rate in the developed world, inmates are suffering from mental health problems that aren’t being addressed or treated sufficiently within correctional facilities. This insufficiency causes these mental illnesses to worsen, creating room for behavioral problems and misunderstandings among inmates, guards and prison professionals. By the time these inmates are released, their mental health has declined, and they are worse off than when they entered. 

 

The deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill throughout the country in the 1960s was intended to aid them. Instead, it diverted many to jails and prisons where their problems were neglected. Correctional facilities now have the responsibility to help these mentally ill with  treatment programs.

 

The War on Drugs of the 1970s ushered in a “tough-on-crime” attitude that aimed at eliminating the use and abuse of recreational drugs by mandating long-term prison sentences for individuals caught using or selling. But because addiction is a type of mental illness, this policy contributed to the burgeoning population of mentally ill inmates between the 1970s and now. 

 

Furthermore, The War on Drugs may account for up to two-thirds of the increase in the federal prison population and one-half of the increase in the state prison populations since that time. This large influx left detention centers incapable of maintaining the quality care needed by those suffering from serious mental illness.

     

Correctional facilities have implemented programs that help treat individuals with mental health issues while they are inside. Treatment procedures in jails and prisons have been tailored to accommodate inmates, based on specific state and county resources, sentence lengths and local opportunities upon re-entry, such as housing and therapy. 

 

In Pennsylvania and Allegheny County specifically, experts have been developing treatment programs that help aid mentally ill inmates before, during and after their time incarcerated. These programs aim to prevent overpopulation of jail and prison with mentally ill individuals who would benefit more from mental health facilities. Prison programs also work toward easing the re-entry for released mentally ill inmates. Such programs might  help return correctional facilities to their original purposes of retribution and crime deterrence, instead of warehousing for the mentally ill.

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