It is not uncommon for people identified as having mental health or substance abuse problems to remain in prison cells for months after being diagnosed in Wyoming.
This placement, or lack thereof, is usually the result of too few mental health facilities in the state.
In fact, county jails turn into semi-treatment centers, but they usually lack the proper infrastructure and trained staff to properly treat these inmates.
Elisa Butler, Chief Justice of the Wyoming Supreme Court, told Congress’s Joint Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, “We are not helping them. They are not getting any medical treatment other than what they need in prison.” yeah.
Butler said this would lead to a cycle of the same people committing the same low-level crimes, further overcrowding county jails.
diversion
Gov. Mark Gordon’s office, Congress, and the Wyoming Department of Justice are developing a pilot diversion program to reduce the number of people incarcerated for misdemeanors and suffering from behavioral and substance abuse disorders. Instead, they want these criminals to receive proper treatment.
This program starts at Gillette. This is the first part of a much larger behavioral health redesign the state plans to begin his July 2024.
One of the driving goals behind the redesign is to identify high-risk, high-priority mental health issues.
miami model
Butler cited studies that found more than 10 times more mentally ill patients in prisons and jails than in all mental hospitals in the United States combined.
Several members of Congress and other state officials traveled to Miami last month to learn about the “Miami Model.”
This prison diversion program is considered the gold standard for keeping people with severe mental illness and substance use disorders out of the criminal justice system and diverting them to comprehensive community-based treatment and support services.
Research shows the program will help reduce demand for crime, homelessness and mental health services in the Miami area and help speed prison closures.
“In Wyoming, we understand that it’s going to be a simplified version,” Butler said.
She also said the pilot program will be analyzed as it progresses to ensure it is effective.
“I’m excited about this. I hope the pilot program works,” said Republican Senator Wendy Schuler. “I envy that it’s not happening in my community.”
Shuler’s Evanston community is home to the Wyoming State Hospital, where many of the Cowboy State’s mental health problems end up.
“A lot of the people who end up leaving stay in our community,” she said. remains in our prison.”
in numbers
In 2022, Wyoming State Hospital will conduct 467 performance assessments. These are done when a person charged with a crime is presumed unfit to stand trial. If you are found to be incompetent, you must restore your capacity before you can be prosecuted.
Wait times for these evaluations can take months in Wyoming, putting a strain on staff who must provide locations for defendants awaiting evaluations.
In 2022, 28% of these state hospital evaluations will be for misdemeanor cases. Usually low-level crimes that rarely result in serious prison sentences. Of the 105 hospitalization evaluations, the average waiting time was 157 days, and suspects often spent time in county jail.
Committee member Senator Kale Case, R-Lander, said the statistic metaphorically exploded his head, calling it an “amazing waste of resources.”
“This is amazing to me,” Case said. “I’ve been locked up for over half a year to get a performance evaluation.”
According to Butler, 61% of those evaluated were deemed suitable for trial. After waiting months in prison for evaluation, many had already spent the maximum amount of time on each charge without being convicted of the crime.
it needs to happen at the prison level
Chief Justice Kate Fox of the Wyoming Supreme Court, one of the pilot program’s main proponents, said the assessment does not restore defendants’ mental health, but merely updates their status.
Under the diversion program, these assessments are skipped entirely and replaced with rudimentary prison screening.
A person is diverted if they are determined to be suffering from any of the four main mental health categories with potentially comorbid substance abuse problems.
R-Sheridan Rep. Mark Jennings has voiced doubts that all people should be diverted from the criminal justice system, for failing to address an already prevalent medical staff problem first. , speculated that the pilot’s diversion program may be “putting carts in front of horses.” Affects Wyoming.
“Without people, there are no people,” he said, adding that Wyoming lacks the resources that Miami-Dade County has.
“Wyoming and Miami are two different places,” he said. “If I were homeless, I’d head to Miami.”
Fox said having the pilot centralized at Gillette to start will allow the program to be fully staffed, but it’s unclear how much it will cost to run or when it will begin.
Staffing will be an ongoing challenge if the program expands, she said, but remote counseling and out-of-state providers could be some solutions.
“We’re working on it, but that’s not the reason to do it,” she said.
Already covered?
Andy Somerville, executive director of the Wyoming Association of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Centers, said Wyoming has one of the worst shortages of mental health providers ever, but has seen some improvement. said.
Numerous bills passed during the 2023 legislative session address health care staffing issues, including establishing agreements between licensed professional counselors and psychologists.
Also passed a law requiring all minor offense evaluations to be done on an outpatient basis unless there is a compelling reason to do so, and a law allowing community health centers to conduct outpatient mental health screenings. hold.
There are four community mental health centers throughout Wyoming and some health care providers who can do the assessment.
Schuler said he believed the new law would help, but said the core of the state’s mental health problem was a shortage of psychologists.
Wyoming’s treatment courts also already offer some mitigation to the issues the pilot program aims to address, but they are primarily for felony post-sentencing defendants only. .
Rep. Art Washhat of R-Casper said moving people out of the criminal justice system into already limited beds could keep people out suffering from mental health problems unrelated to crime. He said he was concerned.
There are also several hospitals in the state that offer psychiatric units with beds for people with mental health problems.
one piece of puzzle
In an ideal world, Somerville said one or two beds would be available in each county to house people struggling with mental health or substance abuse problems.
The purpose of the diversion program is to divert individuals early in the process, prevent offenders with mental health and substance abuse problems from entering the criminal justice system, and prevent them from entering treatment services as soon as possible.
Under the proposed diversion program, if someone with a substance abuse problem were charged with a crime, they could be diverted to mental health services before they were convicted and their case would be dismissed. There is still the possibility that
Somerville said the conversion program would be an important step for the state’s mental health services, addressing the needs of local sheriffs who often have to house people who are likely not fit for institutions.
“What we know about mental health clients is that they end up getting into the system somehow,” she said. It will be better for
Summerville said even if some patients did end up in a crisis intervention program, it would be preferable to being admitted to Wyoming State Hospital.