Mental health crisis in our criminal justice system
Alisa Roth is an APM Reports correspondent and author of “Insane: America’s Criminal Treatment of Mental Illness.”
Evan Frost | MPR News file
With MPR News
As part of APM’s Call to Mind initiative, APM Reports correspondent Alisa Roth spoke to an audience at Metro State University.
She’s the author of “Insane: America’s Criminal Treatment of Mental Illness.” Her talk explore s how this system developed and what we can do to improve it. She also shared some insights on mental health, policing and incarceration.
Roth points out that “the biggest mental health providers in the country are not hospitals or clinics, they are jails.”
“The mental health crisis in our criminal justice system affects everybody, especially women,” Roth said. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that 75 percent of women in jail or prison have mental illness.
A quarter of fatal police shootings involve a person with mental illness. “Why is calling 911 the only option?” she asks.
Police training about mental health is very minimal, Roth says, so when police encounter somebody who is in the throes of a mental health crisis, it is inevitable that “we fail a lot of people.” Many experts wonder why police are being asked to respond to mental health calls.
Many people with mental illness also have substance use disorders.
Roth said there is a lack of resources, understanding and political will, and we need a broader range of options for mental health care.
She concluded her talk by saying, “the most hopeful thing I’ve heard is that what everyone agrees on is that what we’re doing right now is not working, and that we need to change it. I’m hopeful that there’s the will to do it, and we just need to figure out how.”
Roth spoke at the “Understanding and Responding to Mass Incarceration” event this month, which is an annual Metropolitan State University student forum with community participation. This year’s theme, “From Mental Illness to Public Wellness,” examines the challenges faced by people with mental illness in the criminal justice system.
Use the audio player above to listen to the program. Alisa Roth’s 38 minute speech is followed by some responses to audience questions.