Dear FRONTLINE,

Thank you for this documentary. It is an issue that most of Americans know little about and rarely consider. However there is one aspect of this story sorely missing from your analysis. What about the women in correctional facilities? Are the statistics and treatments the same? I would love to see the same idea focusing on women and their unique experiences in these situations.

laurel row

FRONTLINE's editors respond:

Stats on female prisoners and mental illness can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions.

Dear FRONTLINE,

It is unfortunate that our society has opted to house the mentally ill in jails. There are many programs focused on providing support and services to these individuals so they can understand their illness become self sufficient and fully integrated in their communities. These services are far more affordable and less costly than jail however cuts in social services funding reduces the availability of these programs.

If we continue turning a blind eye to this situation and our legislators are not informed of the cost effectiveness of services provided by mental health service agencies prison budgets will continue to increase further reducing funding for the mental health service delivery system.

The problem however will not go away. We need to stop putting a band aid on this crisis. It is time to get stitches and finally close the wound.

Virama Oller
Miami, FL

Dear FRONTLINE,

I worked at Lucasville in the Mental Health Dept from 1989 through 1996. I recognized many of the inmates you profiled and almost 10 years later there does not seem to be any better answers for their care when/if they are released.

There has been a need for long term care facilities in the community for many years but social programs continue to be at the bottom of the funding lists. How sad.

Ceredo, West Virginia

Dear FRONTLINE,

I think mentally ill inmates should be committed to a permanent half way house type situation. Similarly to the way emotionslly disturbed people are cared for. Prison does little to rehab individuals. If segregation make you go mental than it is cruel and unusual punishment. Prisoners are treated like hopeless animals.

Nicolette Morgan
Youngstown, Ohio

Dear FRONTLINE,

I work for a national non-profit and have been advocating for people with mental retardation in the criminal justice system for the past 10 years. Because there is a smaller percentage of people with this disability compared to those with mental illness these individuals are often overlooked.

I hope Frontline will consider including people with mental retardation in future programs because both populations face similar extreme disadvantages in the prisons and jails with little to no alternatives other than incarceration which is damaging to all people with mental health disabilities.

Leigh Ann Davis
Fort Worth , Texas

Dear FRONTLINE,

I watched this program with great interest. I am a psychiatrist and i have worked as a mental health manager in the maryland prison system. currently i work at one of our state hospitals with court ordered patients and i also have an outpatient clinic practice where i primarily focus on working with offenders who have been released with conditions (much like the fellows who were "paroled with conditions" in the film.

I urge anyone interested in this issue to look at www.consensusproject.org to see what has been developed by the Council of State Govts. this includes many policy and program recommendations covering arrest thru release.

My personal interest and something i wuold have liked to have seen more of in the film is the release process itself what is done by the in-prison mental health staff to prepare inmates with mental illness for release and the need for specialized programs in the community to serve these people. they cannot just "go to the doctor" and have their needs met - they need a set of services that focus not only on their mental illness but also on their legal status their housing issues their addictions needs their medical problems the need for social supports vocational needs educational needs etc. there are prgms that exist but not nearly enough. WRITE YOUR LEGISLATOR!!!

Erik Roskes
Baltimore, MD

Dear FRONTLINE,

Unfortunately I missed the beginning of the program but I do have positive information to share.

As is mentioned on another link on this website Broward County FL (Fort Lauderdale) introduced the first Misdemeanor Mental Health Court in 1997. In November 2003 we began the first Felony Mental Health Court. Our recommitment rate is currently at 0.42 % which is one of the lowest in the State of Florida for those individuals who were committed to a state forensic facility. To date the Felony Mental Health Court hears an average of 336 cases per month. In coordination with the Florida Department of Corrections Mental Health Probation has been effective due to specially trained probation officers and treatment providers working together to help the 314 (to date) probationers with mental illness complete their conditions of probation. From July 1 through December 31 of 2004:

•120 people were trained from the criminal justice and mental health communities regarding the Felony Mental Health Court.

•190 clients were evaluated with assessment and treatment plans.

•243 clients were receiving services.

•In addition those 243 clients were also deferred from prosecution to the Felony Mental Health Court.

•Also 9 service providers and 4 justice system/law enforcement partnerships were established in the community.

I could go on but my point is that there are caring individuals and groups from all facets of this community who are dedicated to ensuring that this court succeeds and these clients receive the help that they need. There is more information available at www.consensusproject.org regarding the more than 100 mental health courts now in the nation.

Gina Gagen M.S.

Judicial Oversight Coordinator

Felony Mental Health Court

Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida

Gina Gagen
Fort Lauderdale, FL

Dear FRONTLINE,

Well done! I have over 20 years of providing mental health services in the community.

Your program brings to light the current lack of treatment options for individuals with mental health issues. Funding for community based programs for individual with mental health concerns are limited due to budget issues from state and local governments. Thank you for your report!

dave ellison

Dear FRONTLINE,

In many cases the Department of correction is been use as treatment facilty for the mentally ill. This is making the situation worse because mentally ill clients can not get the most appropiate care at DOC. It is my opinion that long term care facilties needs to be once again implemented. This would improve the care for the mentally ill and also would also give them a better oportunity for recovery.

Eric Cabrera

Dear FRONTLINE,

Thank you for your broadcast. The reality of this serious dilema must be addressed and remedied. Since 2004 the "Prison to Community Project through The Mental Health Association of Southeastern PA has been providing mental health care to inmates in Philadelphia County Prison... before and after their release. We implement advocacy peer support "Wellness" groups and personalize housing and mental health treatment to suit the needs of these valuable members of our society. It is however disenheartening when accessing the statistics regarding Pennsylvania prison system the lack of mental health care and scarcity of any kind of release planning for the mentally ill. Shame on you PA!

Tuesday Wolf

Dear FRONTLINE,

The program needs more attention and recognition addressing the issues that are common in every state in America. I am interested in the response to mental health concerns in other countries vs. how the United States has required the criuminal justice system and corrections to assume the responsibility to develop services in our jails and prisons that are not designed to effectively serve individuals with mental illness. I am aware of the Presidents New Freedom Commission and recommendations BUT where is the support financially to intitiate the changes and improvements needed in every state in our country?

rick hoekstra
bismarck, north dakota

Dear FRONTLINE,

At the base of jail diversion programs for keeping the mentally ill offender out of jail and into treatment is a police program: the Crisis Intervention Team CIT. CIT is pre-booking. The program originated in MemphisTN directed by Major Cochran and is now being implemented in 60 or more cities across the nation.

Iris Kapil
Raleigh, NC

FRONTLINE's editors respond:

This FRONTLINE web site offers more information about CIT. Read the Frequently Asked Questions section of this site.

Dear FRONTLINE,

I watched this with exceptional interest & compassion as I am the mother of a son who is currently in the Psychiatric Hospital in a prison system in California. The treatment he is getting is similar to what I witnessed is going on in Ohio. We thank God every day for the care he is getting and his progress. As he nears the time to be released to a halfway house and further education to enable him to function outside the sytem we hope and pray that he continues taking his medication. We are in contact with him and his caregivers.The problem of the mentally ill as you so well have portrayed should not be with the prison system but with society as a whole. Will we ever see someone running for office who will make the mentally ill part of their platform? (Rhetorical question of course)

Madeline Rozzi

FRONTLINE's editors respond:

More on innovative community reentry programs can be found here.

Dear FRONTLINE,

These mentally ill are in prison not because of closue of mental hospitals but because it is politically favorable to put them there. If they are ordered as they should be to the mental institutions or care that system would have to deal with them. The resources are there for one or the other. The courts will mandate care in the mental system.

Prosecutors are typically ignorant and/or uncaring about the issues and seek to gain political favor by jailing the ill.

I practice law in both mental and criminal fields and have seen this for years.

gary getzin
wausau, wi

Dear FRONTLINE,

Mississippi probably has some of the most mentally ill inmates as a result of ongoing oppression however it has only 2 mental health staff members. Why is Mississippi always over looked in a nation of equality? It is now time for change. My brother is in a Mississippi correctional facility. I pray that before he is released he receives some mental health aid to encourage his understanding of the behavior which led him to prison. He does not listen well to family so maybe he would listen to professionals. He has not even been evaluated yet after 3 years!

LaShonda Corder
Biloxi, Mississippi