The mentally ill - jailed and desperate for help

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- The ninth floor of the Miami-Dade pretrial detention facility is dubbed the "forgotten floor." Here, inmates with the most severe mental illnesses are incarcerated until they're ready to appear in court.

Most often, they face drug charges or charges of assaulting an officer --charges that Judge Steven Leifman says are usually "avoidable felonies." He says the arrests often result from confrontations with police. Mentally ill people often won't do what they're told when police arrive on the scene -- confrontation seems to exacerbate their illness and they become more paranoid, delusional, and less likely to follow directions, according to Leifman.

So, they end up on the ninth floor severely mentally disturbed, but not getting any real help because they're in jail.

We toured the jail with Leifman. He is well known in Miami as an advocate for justice and the mentally ill. Even though we were not exactly welcomed with open arms by the guards, we were given permission to shoot videotape and tour the floor.

At first, it's hard to determine where the people are. The prisoners are wearing sleeveless robes. Imagine cutting holes for arms and feet in a heavy wool sleeping bag -- that's kind of what they look like. They're designed to keep the mentally ill patients from injuring themselves. That's also why they have no shoes, laces or mattresses.

Leifman says about one-third of all people in Miami-Dade county jails are mentally ill. So, he says, the sheer volume is overwhelming the system, and the result is what we see on the ninth floor.

Of course, it is a jail, so it's not supposed to be warm and comforting, but the lights glare, the cells are tiny and it's loud. We see two, sometimes three men -- sometimes in the robes, sometimes naked, lying or sitting in their cells.

"I am the son of the president. You need to get me out of here!" one man shouts at me.

He is absolutely serious, convinced that help is on the way -- if only he could reach the White House.

Leifman tells me that these prisoner-patients will often circulate through the system, occasionally stabilizing in a mental hospital, only to return to jail to face their charges. It's brutally unjust, in his mind, and he has become a strong advocate for changing things in Miami.

Over a meal later, we talk about how things got this way for mental patients.

Leifman says 200 years ago people were considered "lunatics" and they were locked up in jails even if they had no charges against them. They were just considered unfit to be in society. Over the years, he says, there was some public outcry, and the mentally ill were moved out of jails and into hospitals. But Leifman says many of these mental hospitals were so horrible they were shut down.

Where did the patients go? Nowhere. The streets. They became, in many cases, the homeless, he says. They never got treatment.

Leifman says in 1955 there were more than half a million people in state mental hospitals, and today that number has been reduced 90 percent, and 40,000 to 50,000 people are in mental hospitals.

The judge says he's working to change this. Starting in 2008, many inmates who would otherwise have been brought to the "forgotten floor" will instead be sent to a new mental health facility -- the first step on a journey toward long-term treatment, not just punishment.

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Leifman says it's not the complete answer, but it's a start. Leifman says the best part is that it's a win-win solution. The patients win, the families are relieved, and the state saves money by simply not cycling these prisoners through again and again.

source

[knl 0]

interesting, thanks for sharing

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- The ninth floor of the Miami-Dade pretrial detention facility is dubbed the "forgotten floor." Here, inmates with the most severe mental illnesses are incarcerated until they're ready to appear in court.

Most often, they face drug charges or charges of assaulting an officer --charges that Judge Steven Leifman says are usually "avoidable felonies." He says the arrests often result from confrontations with police. Mentally ill people often won't do what they're told when police arrive on the scene -- confrontation seems to exacerbate their illness and they become more paranoid, delusional, and less likely to follow directions, according to Leifman.

So, they end up on the ninth floor severely mentally disturbed, but not getting any real help because they're in jail.

We toured the jail with Leifman. He is well known in Miami as an advocate for justice and the mentally ill. Even though we were not exactly welcomed with open arms by the guards, we were given permission to shoot videotape and tour the floor.

At first, it's hard to determine where the people are. The prisoners are wearing sleeveless robes. Imagine cutting holes for arms and feet in a heavy wool sleeping bag -- that's kind of what they look like. They're designed to keep the mentally ill patients from injuring themselves. That's also why they have no shoes, laces or mattresses.

Leifman says about one-third of all people in Miami-Dade county jails are mentally ill. So, he says, the sheer volume is overwhelming the system, and the result is what we see on the ninth floor.

Of course, it is a jail, so it's not supposed to be warm and comforting, but the lights glare, the cells are tiny and it's loud. We see two, sometimes three men -- sometimes in the robes, sometimes naked, lying or sitting in their cells.

"I am the son of the president. You need to get me out of here!" one man shouts at me.

He is absolutely serious, convinced that help is on the way -- if only he could reach the White House.

Leifman tells me that these prisoner-patients will often circulate through the system, occasionally stabilizing in a mental hospital, only to return to jail to face their charges. It's brutally unjust, in his mind, and he has become a strong advocate for changing things in Miami.

Over a meal later, we talk about how things got this way for mental patients.

Leifman says 200 years ago people were considered "lunatics" and they were locked up in jails even if they had no charges against them. They were just considered unfit to be in society. Over the years, he says, there was some public outcry, and the mentally ill were moved out of jails and into hospitals. But Leifman says many of these mental hospitals were so horrible they were shut down.

Where did the patients go? Nowhere. The streets. They became, in many cases, the homeless, he says. They never got treatment.

Leifman says in 1955 there were more than half a million people in state mental hospitals, and today that number has been reduced 90 percent, and 40,000 to 50,000 people are in mental hospitals.

The judge says he's working to change this. Starting in 2008, many inmates who would otherwise have been brought to the "forgotten floor" will instead be sent to a new mental health facility -- the first step on a journey toward long-term treatment, not just punishment.

advertisement

Leifman says it's not the complete answer, but it's a start. Leifman says the best part is that it's a win-win solution. The patients win, the families are relieved, and the state saves money by simply not cycling these prisoners through again and again.

source

Fitting that you pick mental illness as a subject! LOOK straight ahead. Its very plain and simple.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Meaning?

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Meaning?

Why would you go to a mental illness story? I will help ya! I stayed at a holiday inn last night.

Edited July 15, 2007 by CarolsMarc

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Meaning?

Why would you go to a mental illness story? I will help ya! I stayed at a holiday inn last night.

I still have no idea what you're talking about.

I guess you don't think that untreated mental patients in prisons is a problem worthy of note.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Meaning?

Why would you go to a mental illness story? I will help ya! I stayed at a holiday inn last night.

Too many forced enemas in your youth?

http://www.enematips.com/whyuseenema.html

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Meaning?

Why would you go to a mental illness story? I will help ya! I stayed at a holiday inn last night.

Too many forced enemas in your youth?

http://www.enematips.com/whyuseenema.html

Now were gettin some where. You my freind have been reduced to your real self! I did'nt even have to lead you there.You went there yourself Refresh your link and follow yourself.

Whole wheat is good? Have a banana!

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Meaning?

Why would you go to a mental illness story? I will help ya! I stayed at a holiday inn last night.

Too many forced enemas in your youth?

http://www.enematips.com/whyuseenema.html

Now were gettin some where. You my freind have been reduced to your real self! I did'nt even have to lead you there.You went there yourself Refresh your link and follow yourself.

Whole wheat is good? Have a banana!

Well considering that you derailed the topic with, if I read you right, allusions about my mental health (and apparently "homosexuality" - on the other thread) do you have anything to say that's 'on-topic'. You know actually about the OP post?

Edited July 15, 2007 by Number 6

[Fandango 1,439]

Meaning?

Why would you go to a mental illness story? I will help ya! I stayed at a holiday inn last night.

Too many forced enemas in your youth?

http://www.enematips.com/whyuseenema.html

First the siggy pic and now crazy segueways to enemas....wassup with the ####### fixation as of late, Steven?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Meaning?

Why would you go to a mental illness story? I will help ya! I stayed at a holiday inn last night.

Too many forced enemas in your youth?

http://www.enematips.com/whyuseenema.html

First the siggy pic and now crazy segueways to enemas....wassup with the ####### fixation as of late, Steven?

Either my britches are shrinking or my butt is getting bigger.

"My butt is big

And round like the letter C

And ten thousand lunges

Have made it rounder

But not smaller

And that’s just fine.

It’s a space heater

For my side of the bed

It’s my ambassador

To those who walk behind me

It’s a border collie

That herds skinny women

Away from the best deals

At clothing sales.

My butt is big

And that’s just fine

And those who might scorn it

Are invited to kiss it."

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Meaning?

Why would you go to a mental illness story? I will help ya! I stayed at a holiday inn last night.

Too many forced enemas in your youth?

http://www.enematips.com/whyuseenema.html

Now were gettin some where. You my freind have been reduced to your real self! I did'nt even have to lead you there.You went there yourself Refresh your link and follow yourself.

Whole wheat is good? Have a banana!

Oh, I'm sorry Marc...I thought you were using a double entendre. Saying one spent the night in a holiday inn has a special meaning for sexual deviants. My apologies.

[eric&gen 0]

This thread cracks me up LAMO i almost fell off my chair.