Corrections Community

I recently attended the Webcast seminar " The Mentally Ill in Jail: Whose Problem Is It Anyway?"...Although the discussions were centered on individuals with an MI diagnosis who were caught up in the corrections system, I know that folks with developmental disabilities, or perhaps 'dually diagnosed' as MR/MI, also face these same predicaments....and our Department Of Corrections faces similar challenges when trying to find ways to establish productive alternatives to incarceration for these folks and cut down their recidivism rates. Do people in the field of Criminal Justice and Corrections see substantive differences in approach when dealing with an MR person entering the system as opposed to one who is MI ? I have found that, because , to a large extent, a developmental disability is a life-long condition and not one that can be 'cured', some resources have shyed away from these folks. 'Success' being defined as some point in the future when services will no longer be needed, resources cannot justify funding for these MR/DD folks who do not fit their criteria for that 'success'.

Dealing with developmentally delayed individuals or those with organic brain disorders is challenging. One of the most important steps is to get an accurate diagnosis and determination of level of function / level of insight. We find that many of these patients are unable to continue in the criminal justice system because of their level of impairment, but until we characterize it nobody knows what to do. Once we have a determination that they are not appropriate for legal proceedings, then the attorneys and judges move ahead on figuring out alternatives. If they are found to be appropriate for legal proceedings, then a multi-disciplinary treatment team approach is necessary to address all of their considerable needs in a structured correctional setting. We often segregate them for their own protection in mental health housing areas because we can control the milieu better and make sure that they are not being taken advantage of by other prisoners. In that sense, we treat them very similarly to how we treat low-functioning chronic mentally ill prisoners, so we don't really make a significant distinction. Todd Wilcox, M.D. Medical Director, Wellcon