(Mar. 14, 2013) In a state where nearly a quarter of a million people live with mental illness, a pilot program was created to test assisted outpatient treatment in Tennessee, which is currently one of six states that does not allow mandatory commitment for people with serious mental illness.
The hope is to keep mentally ill patients out of the hospital, out of jail and out of trouble. But “[f]or some, the program has come too late,” wrote Joan Garret in the Times Free Press (“Mentally ill offered new path for care,” Mar. 5).
Because of state funding cuts for mental health services, which are under reconsideration by some states, “most states are suffering from a glut of mentally ill inmates in jails and prisons and shrinking hospital systems.” For example, the “Hamilton County Jail spends more than $6,000 a month on mentally ill inmates, who comprise 45 percent of its population.”
"Assisted outpatient treatment doesn't wait for a person to commit a crime," said Brian Stettin, policy director for the Treatment Advocacy Center, who spoke to the Times Free Press about why outpatient commitment is a valuable tool to help those who are too sick to help themselves.
At the Treatment Advocacy Center, we say that if we can get someone into treatment before they go to jail; it will be a lot less expensive in the long run. And, in fact, there are reports and studies that demonstrate that long-term AOT actually saves money. For the sake of those who are suffering needlessly in jail, and because of straining state budgets, we hope this program is expanded to cover more counties across the state.
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