In an effort to help prevent mentally ill inmates from returning to prison, the state spending plan approved by lawmakers today includes $3 million in additional program funding pushed by Sen. Bob Hertzberg.
“This money will go toward paying for programs to help jailed persons living with mental illness,” Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, said after senators approved the 2015-16 budget agreement. “It can be used to provide treatment and training for people suffering from mental illness.”
Based partly on the goals of Senate Bill 621, Hertzberg’s bill to reduce crimes committed by the mentally ill, the additional money will help the state’s Mentally Ill Offender Crime Reduction Grant program.
The boost is essential, Hertzberg said, because the state’s mental health system and jails are in crisis. In Los Angeles alone 3,500 inmates need medication to address mental illness, he said.
To reduce those numbers, Hertzberg requested funding to continue offering counties grant money for local treatment options for mentally ill offenders. The original program did this by developing local plans that addressed responses to mentally ill offenders, identified gaps in services, and proposed strategies for addressing mental health treatment and other needs of offenders with mental illness.
Hertzberg requested redirecting funding from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation unspent Recidivism Reduction Fund to fund the grants requested for local programs as it seems more effective and consistent with RRF to fund MIOCR grants that can be allocated and established in this fiscal year.
SB 621 would clarify that funds from the MIOCR Grant program can fund diversion programs that offer appropriate mental health treatment and services to reduce recidivism and re-incarceration of mentally ill offenders.
“This approach allows people with mental illness access to valuable resources to address their specific needs,” Hertzberg said. “To take people with mental health needs to jail as a first option is simply wrong.”
