Mental health waitlists contributing to PA's incarceration rates - WHP Harrisburg

CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. (WHP) — Can mental health issues not being addressed be a potential pipeline to prison?

More studies are showing that long wait times for mental health services can have a direct impact on the number of people who end up incarcerated.

CBS 21's Elise Person talked to one woman who struggles with Bipolar Personality Disorder.

The woman told Person that she's currently on a list that could take her in six to eight months.

"So I am currently without a therapist," she says, "If could get in somewhere, that would definitely take some of the overwhelm that I feel on a daily basis."

This woman spent a year in prison after turning to drugs in an attempt to self-medicate, because she was struggling to connect with mental health services.

But she's not alone in this.

Ethan Frost says he was on waitlists for years trying to get mental health services: "It was through the addiction that I ended up incarcerated," says Frost.

A 2017 study shows in PA State Prisons, approximately 25% of inmates have been diagnosed with a serious mental illness.

Depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder, like what Ethan Frost has, are the two most common conditions, according to the study.

Dr. Kathy Quick with the PA Mental Health Consumers' Association says those numbers have gone up in recent years--and she says it's affecting both urban and rural counties.

Dr. Quick quoted in the 70% range of individuals who either A) have a mental illness that has been diagnosed, or B) are on some kind of psychotropic medication, which is a mental health medication in their county prison.

Reinstitutionalization is the word that I would call it

Throughout the 1970's and 80's, Pennsylvania worked toward de-institutionalization--meaning those who were mentally ill would no longer be put in facilities and could live on their own.

The Patient Population in State Hospitals from 1986 to 1987 was just over 7800, according to a 1987 report on the Mental Health System and Laws of Pennsylvania.

According to Data from DHS, the average patient population in state hospitals in 2021 was just over 1300.

But the question remains: Has Pennsylvania been able to keep up with the needs of those with mental health diagnoses?

Dr Kathy Quick, Pennsylvania Mental Health Consumers' Association Executive Director, might say no:

"You reach out and ask for help, which is what everybody tells us to do, says Dr. Quick, "Just reach out and ask, and then you're told well we don't have any openings and you can't get you in for three months or six months or a year.

Annie Strite, mental health administrator for Cumberland and Perry counties, might say agree:

"Unfortunately I'm not sure that they done a good enough job trying to keep up with the needs in many counties right now," says Strite, "We have, like, 90 residential slots and we have a wait list of more than that. So we have a waitlist of about 100 ... I mean that's when bad things happen in the community, because people go for too long with unmet needs."

How does Pennsylvania fix the system? Some counties are partnering with Law Enforcement and the Prison Systems.

Annie Strite, mental health administrator for Cumberland and Perry counties, says that in 2018 they because CIT (crisis intervention team) training for their officers, in hopes that law enforcement would gain a stronger understanding of people with mental illness and their experiences.

On the other hand, Dr. Quick is leaning away from only using trained clinicians, and towards utilizing peer specialists. Quick argues that this allowed those who have been incarcerated with a mental health diagnosis before to work with those on waiting list. Dr. Quick also argues it could serve as a temporary substitute to clinical therapies.

If you or someone you know has been incarcerated and has a mental health diagnosis, there are paid positions in counties to act as a peer specialist.

You must have been incarcerated and diagnosed with a mental health condition to apply for some.

Learn more here.

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