The official name of the bill is H.R. 1368, Mental Health Justice Act of 2021. The purpose of the bill was to propose provisions that resolve the gaps in serving people will mental illnesses. The goals of the acts include funding the state and the local government in hiring, training, and releasing mental health professionals to respond in place of law enforcement officers in handling injustices involving individuals with suspected mental heath, intellectual, developmental issues and substance abuse. The act would also offer mental health professionals training concerning de-escalation techniques during a crisis. In addition, the act mandated the mental health professionals with roles of presenting Individuals identified as battling substance abuse and mental health issues with short voluntary community-based services. The act also stipulated that the states train professionals in the dispatching centres in de-escalation skills. The act also proposed motivation systems for rewarding professionals who demonstrate competencies in reducing the rates of incarcerating and killing individuals with mental health issues and lowering the enforcement of police brutality and reducing the high referral rates if a persons with mental health, developmental and intellectuals challenges in community-based services, and voluntary support services.
Facts
The facts related to the issues that the law seeks to address include the mental health considerations for incarcerated Americans. The National Alliance for mental health provided data which indicated that about 2 million American adults with mental health challenges are registered in jail yearly (NAMI, n.d). The data estimated that women with a history of mental illness contributed to 66% of the population, and about 70% of youths with diagnosable mental health conditions, leading to about 64% of the inmates with mental health issues (NAMI, n.d). These statistics indicate that people with mental illnesses always portray behaviours that increase their chances of interacting with law enforcement officers involving homelessness and substance abuse. Therefore, these concerns contribute to the numerous detention facilities in America due to the mass detention of individuals with mental health challenges.
The states also utilize intensive finances in managing individuals who could get assistance from mental health care due to weaknesses of justice towards them. As a result, the government uses taxpayers money to cater for the high dentation rates. For instance, a financial statement from from the federal register indicates that the federal states used $102.6 daily to cater for the inmates housing in 2018 (Federal Register, 2019). These expenditures indicate that the states use heavy finances on inmates, which could be helpful when directed towards psychiatric treatment. This evidence became overwhelming when considering the costs in relation to untreated mental illnesses and its impact on families, communities and individuals. Therefore, the mental health act of 2021 was proposed to address these issues.
Legislation Support and Rationale
The mental health act of 2021 is still on hold since its introduction in the congress house. As a result, the citizens can experience challenges in anticipating the type of opposition the bill encounters in its introduction phase. The factors that can are likely to affect the process include concerns of the community advocates about the organ in charge of determining individuals with mental health challenges. My reasons for opposing the legislation include its focus on institutionalization. Various states, such as the united states (US), have varying civil commitment laws that emphasize involuntary institutionalization of people that can cause harm to themselves and other individuals. For instance, Florida commits individuals with mental health issues involuntarily under the Backer Act when they meet criteria which include reasonable beliefs that the individual has mental illnesses, the individual suspected of mental challenges fails to undertake voluntary assessment, and that failure to treat the individual can cause feelings of neglect, leading to harmful behaviors that overpowers the help of other individuals (CCHR Florida, 2022). Laws of this type can hinder the implementation of the mental health justice act of 2021 due to its focus on voluntary institutionalization. In addition, the bill can also face opposition due to the ambiguity in the program management and the structure of mental health care. For instance, the act does not outline where there are sufficient voluntary programs, resources and implementation. Therefore, the act does not provide comprehensive information about its programming details.
Policies Addressing Similar Problems
The other policies intended to address similar problems includes H.R. 7254, mental justice, and H.R. 8542, mental health justice act of 2022. The H.R. 7254, still in the introduction phase, developed a grant program for emergency response mental health professionals. The alternative policy changes that the acts explores include eliminating the laws that allow the non-governmental organizations offering insurance programs from self-funding to withdraw from the requirements to maintain parity in covering mental health and mental health services. The H.R 8542, passed bill through Congress majority, proposed $250 million in financing the Indian tribes, Urban Indian organizations, and technical state assistants to train, employ, hire and deploy mental health professionals to respond in a crises involving individuals with substance abuse disorders, and mental health challenges in place of law enforcement officers (Porter, 2022). It explored alternative policies that stipulate a compulsory mandate for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to award grants to the state and the local governments to conduct training programs for mental health professionals and send them to emergencies involving individuals demonstrating behavioural requirements. The H.R. 8542 also mandates the SAMHSW compulsory engagement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) in managing the training programs. The act also provides SAMHSA with the authority to withhold funds that can influence an increase in institutionalization and incarceration. Therefore, the organizations that offer the grant have a compulsory mandate to use the funds for relevant purposes, such as training programs involving anti-racism and de-escalation.
Population
The population of individuals with mental health issues are vulnerable to the criminal justice system. The population are always at risk of inappropriate arrest and detention in prisons due to a lack of awareness and resources, such as health professionals, to handle them. For instance, police officers always arrest them due to negligible behaviours such as wandering in the streets. A study shows that close to 12% of psychiatric patients receiving treatment in the San Diego healthcare system have a history of incarcerating and diagnosing 28% of patients residing in Connecticut with bipolar illness have been once arrested (Ghiasi et al., 2021). The factors contributing to these statistics include the lack of mental health services for the population due to the deinstitutionalization of psychiatric state hospitals. The H.R 8542 mental health justice act of 2022 will have a positive impact on the population. The policy has a defined budget for conducting its programs. In addition, the policy mandates SAMHSA to work closely with the DOJ in consultation matters relating to individuals with mental health challenges. For example, substance abuse contributes to the most independent factor that compels individuals with mental challenges into violence. The act will address these issues easily since it gives SAMHSA the basic role of assessing substance abuse among the population. In addition, individuals with mental health challenges also experience challenges in getting treatment due to a lack of funding in the mental health care system. The H.R 8542 mental health justice act will reduce the financial issues due to the sufficient budgeting for mental health problems. Therefore, the policy will address the issues affecting individuals with mental issues when implemented effectively.
The role is Social Workers
The social workers can collaborate with interdisciplinary teams, such as the team involved in the mental health justice act programs to provide intensive assistance to individuals with mental health challenges. The social workers will help in creating an environment that respects the dignity and diversity of the population. Social workers will assist the interprofessional teams in developing treatment plans based on the population’s need. The specific activities that they can execute include collaborating with the organizations such as the SAMHSA to offer additional support in handling individuals diagnosed with substance use. They can also offer cognitive, and psychosocial evaluations to identified individuals with mental health challenges. They can advocate on behalf of the families of people detained with underlying mental conditions. Therefore, social workers will play significant roles in reducing the cases of incarcerating individuals with mental issues.
The current and alternative policy can affect social work in different ways. For instance, the mental health justice act of 2021 will give the social worker the opportunity to advocate against over presentation of individuals with mental health in criminal justice. For instance, there will advocate for laws that prevent the police officers from maiming the vulnerable population. In addition, the policy will motivate social workers recruited in its program to deliver quality service through its reward system. The mental health act of 2022 will also enable the social workers to liaise with SAMSHA in managing individuals with substance abuse issues. The bill will also enable social workers to address the overrepresentation of minority races in the population in prisons. They will achieve this goal by advocating against racial overrepresentation in line with the recommendations of the bill. Therefore, these policies will influence social workers’ practice positively.
Summary
The most effective policy to handle the issues of criminality and mental challenges should consist of a flexible, economic, and assessable approach to accessing mental health services. These characteristics will enable the policy programs to meet the needs of the community and criminal victims significantly. The approach will also provide quality healthcare to the population, improving their overall well-being and enhancing their significance in the country’s production. The connection between mental illness and law enforcement accompanies complicated implications in the community. This complication emphasizes the need to conduct comprehensive surveys and research to evaluate and avail the possible solutions to mental health treatment. However, there is inadequate evidence to illustrate how mental challenges influence criminal behaviours independently. Therefore, favourable policies such as the mental health justice act of 2022 will assist in reducing over the presentation of individuals with mental issues in criminal justice.
An interprofessional team that consists of psychiatrist advocates, social workers, and criminal justice advocates can collaborate to identify and propose effective measures and strategies that can help reduce factors that compel people with mental challenges to engage in crime. For instance, the team can involve experts with knowledge at different levels, mandated with the role of identifying individuals with mental issues during the initial stages and providing proposals and solutions to factors such as food and shelter to prevent the individuals from engaging with law enforcement. Social work organizations can also provide essential services to the criminals in detention, such as education, rehabilitation and empowerment. The interprofessional teams can also liaise with social work organizations to mobilize the public against identifying criminals as individuals with mental challenges. Therefore, these approaches will create a positive environment between the law enforcement officers, the community and the individuals with mental issues.
References
Porter, K. (2022, September 22). Statement of Administration Policy. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/HR-8542-SAP.pdf
CCHR Florida. (2020, March 27). Involuntary commitment law in Florida – Citizens Commission on Human Rights, CCHR. Citizens Commission on Human Rights, CCHR. https://www.cchrflorida.org/involuntary-commitment-law-in-florida/
Ghiasi, N., Azhar, Y., & Singh, J. (2022). Psychiatric illness and criminality. In StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537064/
Federal Register. (2019, November 19). Annual determination of average cost of incarceration fee (COIF). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/11/19/2019-24942/annual-determination-of-average-cost-of-incarceration-fee-coif
NAMI. (n.d.). Criminalization of people with mental illness. NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness. https://www.nami.org/Advocacy/Policy-Priorities/Stopping-Harmful-Practices/Criminalization-of-People-with-Mental-Illness
NAMI. (n.d.). Mental health by the numbers. NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness. https://www.nami.org/mhstats
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