M i s s i o n P e a k U n i t a r i a n U n i v e r s a l i s t C o n g r e g a t i o n
"A Spiritual Community of Caring Hearts and Open Minds"
Mentally Ill in Jails
Published October 1, 2005 in The Argus, Fremont, CA
It seems that we have come full circle from the mid-1800s when Dorothea Dix began her career as an advocate for the mentally ill by exposing the deplorable conditions in which they were kept imprisoned in jails.
She led a crusade that saw the building of many special hospitals to house them.
In time, these poorly funded hospitals became horrors themselves, and many thought that in tearing them down we were doing service by returning the mentally ill to their communities.
Today, people with mental disorders are being kept in jails [ "Mentally ill languish behind bars", The Argus, 22 September]. Jails rightly say that they aren't equipped to deal with these people and the mental hospitals that still exist do not have enough space to hold them.
This situation is not acceptable.
The mental hospitals shouldn't think it is OK to just throw up their hands saying they haven't got adequate space. The jails shouldn't think that with the best-funded prison system ever, they can point to poorly funded mental hospitals as the problem and do nothing more.
They should work together.
One obvious solution might be for the well-funded penal institutions to dedicate some of their funds to mental hospitals. Blaming the other party for the problem and doing nothing is not acceptable.
