Watch: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/showsasylums/
Eventually, a majority of mentally ill inmates are released back into the community, generally with a limited amount of medication, little preparation, and sometimes no family or support structure. “We release people with two weeks’ worth of medication. Yet it appears that it’s taking three months for people to actually get an appointment in the community to continue their services…and if they don’t have the energy and/or the insight to do that, they’re going to fall through the cracks and end up back in some kind of criminal activity,” warns Deborah Nixon-Hughes, mental health bureau chief, Ohio Department of Corrections.
What can be done to help the mentally ill stay out of the criminal justice system since the resources are limited for them upon release?
