© 2024 KRWG
News that Matters.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Criminal Justice Experts Examine Mental Health Treatment Among New Mexico Inmates

Michael Hernandez

http://youtu.be/ibKCiCsvl24

For people with mental health disorders, it can be difficult to get proper treatment, and even more so in prison.

Gabe, a former inmate who asked we not disclose his full name or the nature of his crimes, said he was recently diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder from his time behind bars. Gabe said once he entered the criminal justice system, he kept his emotions bottled up and his experiences to himself.

“You know when you see your friends get murdered and your next door neighbor so to speak, your next door cell guy is getting raped, and you have to suppress that and not speak to anybody about that,” Gabe said. “I believe it’s a heavy burden to carry.”

Gabe described himself as getting “lost in the cracks” while serving his time.  He said he didn’t seek mental health treatment because prisoners see receiving help as weakness.  Some also view it as a chance to “snitch” on other inmates.

“So when I got out, I just finagled my way through the system, through the POs. I told them what they wanted to hear and they kind of let me off easy and as a result of that I kind of cheated myself. I didn’t get the proper treatment and round two started,” Gabe said.

New Mexico State University's chapter of criminal justice honor society Alpha Phi Sigma recently hosted experts in the mental health and criminal justice systems to discuss improving treatment for people like Gabe. It’s a personal topic for Democratic State Senator Mary Kay Papen and one of the reasons she said she ran for office. Papen said her grandson was diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teenager.

“He’s been homeless, he has been in jail, he has been in the state hospital, he’s been in board and care. So, it’s sort of this revolving door that we’re not providing the services out there for people with mental health problems, severe, chronic, severe mental health problems. We’re not providing the wraparound services that they need in order to live a decent life,” Papen said.

The state legislature passed the Assisted Outpatient Treatment Act in 2016. Papen co-sponsored the bill, which authorizes patients likely to harm themselves or others to receive court-ordered treatment. Papen said her daughter travels from Ruidoso to Las Vegas once a week to visit her grandson, but said many families abandon loved ones with severe mental illness.

“She goes once a week to make sure that’s she’s tracking with him and seeing how he is and what he’s doing and so I think that’s important but that’s not true of all people with families because it does become exhausting for families. But you know this is not something that people with mental illness choose. They don’t choose to be ill; it’s something that happens,” Papen said.

Doña Ana County Health and Human Services Director Jamie Michael said stigma is a common factor why people get stuck in the “revolving door” between mental and criminal systems.

People don’t often ask for help or acknowledge that they or someone close to them has a mental health disorder because of the fear of stigma. So, we need to overcome that,” Michael said. “We support people when they have a diagnosis of diabetes or a diagnosis of cancer, so we need to make sure that we’re looking at mental illness in the same light and be there to support people and help connect them to resources.”

More than 2.3 million people in the U.S. are in prison or jail according to 2018 Prison Policy Initiative data. That includes nearly 8,000 New Mexico state prisoners, which the state sentencing commission projects to keep rising through the next decade.

A 2016 paper by the Treatment Advocacy Center, a mental illness research nonprofit, estimates 20% of inmates in jails and 15% of inmates in state prisons have a serious mental illness.

While data shows people with mental health disorders are overrepresented in prison, Michael said there are limits to the quality of care they receive behind bars. That’s why it’s important to focus on early intervention and prevention.

She said the county’s Stepping Up Initiative, a jail diversion program, and resources like the state’s crisis line and mental health first aid classes are essential toward helping people with untreated mental illness.

“It’s the untreated that causes the problem, not necessarily the illness. So just remember that we approach people who have other types of illnesses like diabetes or cancer, we approach them with compassion. So, we need to do the same for people who are suffering from a mental health disorder. It’s a disease of the brain, it’s not something that we should blame them for or shame them for,” Michael said.

Gabe, who was released last year and is attending school to become a barber, said treating inmates with dignity will help improve their mental health and reduce recidivism rates.

“I think we just have to have a better understanding and not just look at us as a number or as a statistic or we’re filling up this much bed space. You know the reality is we’re all coming out to the streets. So, I believe that getting to know the people on the caseloads is extremely important because just that one visit that you make with them can make a difference and that person opening up and it can save him from another trip to prison or a violation,” Gabe said.

Saving people from going to prison is something that can give those in and out of the criminal justice system peace of mind.

Michael Hernandez was a multimedia reporter for KRWG Public Media from late 2017 through early 2020. He continues to appear on KRWG-TV from time to time on our popular "EnviroMinute" segments, which feature conservation and citizen science issues in the region.