According to a news article, the Idaho legislature has approved $25 million for a 26-bed secure mental health facility for those determined to be dangerously mentally ill by the courts and for inmates in need of acute behavioral intervention.
Great! We must applaud this long-awaited allocation of funds, and other positive steps are being taken as well, but please forgive me if I don’t stand up and cheer. “Wait until people die before taking any action” seems to be Idaho’s standard operating procedure, suggested an opinion piece from the Idaho Statesman (Boise) in December 2023. Our son Milo became that someone.
In an excessively heartless move, Milo was placed in a maximum-security cell with a dangerously mentally ill, much younger person. Who thought this was a good idea? “It would be ALL BAD if we fought because I would probably lose,” Milo wrote to me on Nov. 4. On Dec. 10, after 90 days of sharing that little cell, that cellie murdered him. There was no fight.
Yes, we need a secure facility for the dangerously mentally ill, but the system is lacking in so many ways. KW
Also...I need someone to explain to me why 25 million dollars only results in 26 beds. I think this is going to be grossly insufficient based upon the number of incarcerated individuals in Idaho.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Hallie. Authorities will be rotating inmates on the basis of who is worst. It's a start. Idaho is evidently the very last state in the union to take this step.
ReplyDeleteAnd without trained, compassionate staff and supervised procedures, nothing will change.
My sister devoted 30 years to Idaho mental health. She resigned when she realized that in those 30 years, nothing had changed.