Committee Researches NYC’s Mentally Ill Inmate Population

NEW YORK — Mayor Mike Bloomberg launched a steering committee in September to research the mentally ill inmates incarcerated in New York City jails and establish the most effective and efficient practices, policies, and treatment options for this population across the criminal justice and mental health continuum.

“Individuals involved in our criminal justice system deserve the care and support they need, both inside our prison system and upon release,” said Chief Advisor to the Mayor for Policy and Strategic Planning and Criminal Justice Coordinator John Feinblatt. “This steering committee is committed to investigating the specific challenges this population faces and ensuring their needs are in fact being addressed. Doing so is good for defendants and good for the community.”

The project will look at the mentally ill, criminal-justice-involved population in New York City through a cross-disciplinary lens and collaboratively develop strategies aimed at improving outcomes for this population. Feinblatt and Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs head the mayor’s Steering Committee of the Citywide Justice and Mental Health Initiative. Committee members include Department of Correction Commissioner Dora B. Schriro, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner Tom Farley, Department of Probation Commissioner Vincent Schiraldi, Health and Hospitals Corp. President Alan Aviles, Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Seth Diamond, and representatives from legal services, community-based organizations, district attorneys’ offices, and the judiciary.

“This is a great opportunity and an important initiative for the City to conduct,” said Elizabeth Crowley, chair of the City Council’s Committee on Fire and Criminal Justice. “By better understanding how we handle mentally ill offenders, we will be able to form policies that both keep New Yorkers safe and work to rehabilitate inmates; I look forward to seeing the results of this study and working with the Department of Correction and all the members of this task force to identify and improve the system.”

Individuals with mental illness enter jail, return more frequently, and spend longer periods of time in jail than those without a mental health diagnosis, even when the severity of their criminal charges and histories are similar. As a result, one-third of the jail population is now diagnosed as mentally ill. For every two mentally ill inmates released from the Department of Correction, one returns to jail within a year, and when readmitted, remains in jail for nearly three times as long as an offender without a mental health diagnosis.

Because their lengths of stay are considerably longer — 108 days with a mental health diagnosis compared with 39 days with no mental health diagnosis — the incarcerated mentally ill now compose more than 30 percent of the 12,700 average daily jail census in the Big Apple. The incarcerated population with mental health needs is increasing in the city’s jail system, which otherwise notes a decline in population commensurate with a decrease in crime.

“How we care for vulnerable populations, imprisoned or not, says a great deal about us as a society,” said Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn. “The fact that the number of those imprisoned has decreased while the incarcerated mentally ill population has risen tells us there’s a problem that needs to be addressed head on. This steering committee will explore new practices that will help prevent repeated incarcerations for those suffering from mental illness.”

Researchers will analyze the path traveled by people with mental illness as they move through the New York City criminal justice system. Through an analysis of data and interviews with staff on the front lines of the criminal justice and health systems, researchers will identify factors that drive the long length of stay and high rates of readmission among people with mental illness. The analysis will lead to practice and policy proposals for treatment in the continuum of criminal justice and mental health care.

The project begins with a study focused on available data for all individuals admitted to Department of Correction in 2008 — including those who enter jail with and without mental illness diagnoses — and tracks the individuals through the end of 2010. Assessments include their arrest and incarceration history, what is known about their mental health, and their involvement in the criminal justice system over the two-year period. It includes about 60,000 individuals and roughly 80,000 total admissions, as some re-enter the system within the same year of admission. Through mapping the histories of individuals in that two-year population study, researchers expect to draw conclusions and devise new collaborative strategies and approaches throughout the criminal justice and mental health systems.
The committee expects to present recommendations by this winter. Since New York City operates the second-largest jail system in the United States, the research will also provide meaningful results for the rest of the country where other cities and states face the same issues. The Council of State Governments Justice Center, a research and policy organization, is conducting the analysis, along with the New York City Departments of Correction and Health and Mental Hygiene.

It is funded by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation. The collaboration also includes the Department of Probation and other city government and community-based human services providers. State participants include the governor’s office and the New York State Office of Mental Health.
“The jails are increasingly a place of last resort for offenders who are chronically mentally ill,” said Correction Commissioner Schriro. “Even as the jails’ total population continues to fall, this group just can’t get out or stay out. We look forward to learning all we can from this analysis to improve our practices to better serve the city and ensure all New Yorkers are safe and sound.”

Chief Advisor to the Mayor for Policy and Strategic Planning and Criminal Justice Coordinator John Feinblatt and Deputy Mayor for Human Services Linda Gibbs attend the inaugural meeting.