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As the new director of the Iowa Department
of Corrections, John Baldwin inherits the responsibility of
about 8,900 prisoners - almost 3,000 of them diagnosed with
mental illness. Iowa prisons have become the mental institutions
of last resort. That's what happens in a country where millions
of Americans don't have health insurance. It takes going to
prison to get needed treatment and medicine for their mental
problems.
It's inhumane, and it's avoidable. Two state agencies, the
Department of Corrections and the Department of Human Services,
have put together a plan to tackle part of the problem: the
high recidivism rates for mentally ill people, who keep returning
to prison again and again. The agencies are working to secure
a federal grant to provide additional services to mentally
ill offenders after their release.
The grant the two agencies are seeking
would fund an experiment of sorts. One group of convicts would
receive Medicaid health insurance, assistance finding employment,
help with housing, and assistance from probation and parole
officers who have added knowledge about mental illness. A
second group would receive only Medicaid. The third group
would get what released offenders now receive: nothing. The
purpose: to show recidivism rates can be improved if mentally
ill convicts receive medical care in the community.
Some Iowans might not like the idea of taxpayers picking up
the health-care tab for offenders after their release, especially
when thousands of hard-working, Iowans without criminal records
don't have health insurance. But taxpayers can either pay
to provide care for mentally ill people outside prison, or
pay to treat them behind bars - where the tab will also include
paying to house, feed, clothe and guard them.
Click
here to access the complete article
from the Des Moines Register.
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