Should Kansas close another state hospital for the developmentally disabled? Jane Rhys, executive director at the Kansas Council on Developmental Disabilities, thinks so. “For every person in the hospitals now, there is someone who is just as fragile or whose behaviors are just as difficult, living in a community setting,” she told the Lawrence Journal-World. “They don’t have to be in an institution. They should be and they deserve to be living in the community.” The state closed the hospital in Winfield in 1998, and Rhys noted that the state’s two remaining hospitals in Parsons and Topeka cost on average more than $130,000 per resident annually. In comparison, the average cost for a person in a community setting is $25,000, Rhys said, though current hospital residents would likely cost more.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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20 Comments
All the psychiatric patients the let on the streets has cost society a whole lot more than money.
As long as they dont kick me out of my home here at Larned…I dont care
Steve, I don’t think that’s accurate. Most of the damage I see caused by the mentally ill is the damage they do to themselves. Your attitude is the result of the media, it only focuses on the mentally ill when they do something outrageous. Most people with severe and persistant mental illness are as harmless as your grandmother.It’s a great idea to allow them to live in the community with the proper support services, but now they’re trying to cut that back, also. The government can’t do both, otherwise we’ll see more homeless people and people acting out because they’re not being monitored and they can’t manage their medications independantly.
Too often the schizophrenics will stop taking their medication and their actions are predictably unpredicable.
On a related issue, I have been told the annual cost for inmates in our Kansas prisons is some $30 to $40,000 per year.
I am convinced jail terms are generally too long for average crimes. The whole Kansas justice system needs a major citizen review and oversight. But who would have enough courage to initiate it?
I have been told there is no longer a parole board in Kansas. Does anyone know if this is true?
Sometime back, I posted there should be separate parole boards for each part of Kansas rather than one overall board. Now it appears there are no parole boards.
In my opinion, the idea of lengthening prison sentences to “be hard on crime” is the wrong approach for everyone concerned. It bugs me to see politicians trying to get a foot up on their opponents on this issue. I don’t see longer sentences as being a liberal or conservative response.
I believe longer sentences are given by judges who have become hardened to seeing a steady stream of criminals before them.
Longer sentences harden the inmates of course.
Longer sentences take inmates away from their families and children assuming they are not there for a related family problem.
Longer sentences cost the public lots more taxes — some $30 to $40,000/year so I have been told. If anyone has more accurate figures, please speak up.
There is a continuous call for more jails and jail cells at all levels: municipal, county, state and federal. Followed, of course, by increases in staff, medical services, etc. etc.
This is another overlooked tax gobbler in our society.
“Longer sentences cost the public lots more taxes — some $30 to $40,000/year so I have been told. If anyone has more accurate figures, please speak up.”
“There is a continuous call for more jails and jail cells at all levels: municipal, county, state and federal. Followed, of course, by increases in staff, medical services, etc. etc.”
“This is another overlooked tax gobbler in our society.”
Posted by: JWink | July 16, 2006 at 12:50 PM
JW, I am not sure that your logic is correct if we take in all the facts. Let us consider the crimes that the percentage of repeat offenders will do and the cost for the investigation. Lawyers for both sides, judges salary, the loss in the crime, then back to jail again.
My brother is mentally ill and he lives within the community. He used to be in the State Hospital for several years, but he learned that medication was important and that being home was the best thing and the doctors agreed.
There are plenty of services that help the mentally ill. ComCare, Breakthrough Club and several others that make sure that the mentally ill living in our community are taken care of and recieving treatment in hopes of making their lives better.
And these services, even along with a stipend from SSDI to help them with financial issues are much cheaper and more effective than State Hospitals.
Although my brother isn’t well enough to work in a steady job or raise a family, he is self suficent and is getting better about interacting with society.
And Steve! I’ve seen what happens when a paranoid schizophrenic stops taking their medicine. It isn’t pretty. But they know it’s important to take it. So most schizophrenics know the power of their medication and will take it without supervision, because they know it’s better than it is living in a schizophrenic hell.
I just think they should be closely monitored, for their own safety and that of society.If they are prone to violent behavior when off their meds., they might just be better off in a structured environment. I do feel sympathy for the mentally ill.
Yes, JWink, there is a Kansas parole board, because I’m addressing one tomorrow morning.
Joe, that’s why home health services are important for those who suffer from chronic mental illness. With services, they can live independantly and have a professional who will see them often to manage their medications and make sure their needs are being met. When their meds are no longer effective, or if they choose to not take them, it doesn’t take long for them to lose their grip on reality, then someone must intervene or they fall through the cracks.My clients usually don’t end up in the hospital because I can assess them often and head off a psychotic break before it becomes full blown. The system that’s been set up works really well to keep costs down by keeping hospitalizations down. Of course nothing is foolproof, but it’s much better than having someone with severe and persistant mental illness out there on their own with little or no support. Many of my clients won’t go to Breakthrough or other day programs, because they are too withdrawn or physically disabled, so for them home health is a lifeline.
Damoon/Mary Caruso: The fact there is a Kansas parole board is news to me. At one time, I considered being appointed to the Parole Board. Separately, I appeared before the board, in Wichita as I recall, for a person I knew slightly in the business world.
In any case, is the parole hearing open to the public? Is it in Wichita?
One of my theories is that Kansas should have three parole boards, each representing NE Kansas, Topeka and northwest Kansas and Wichita and southern Kansas.
The tremendous expense of incarcerating Kansas inmates should be reduced by an effective parole program.
I don’t pretend to know the answers. However, I don’t think warehousing some humongously large percentage our population (Is it 5% ??) for extraordinary lengths of time is the right answer.
As a Kansas history buff, I have noticed that prison sentences were shorter back in the late 1800’s for example.
Obviously, intervention outside the prison walls is needed and would, presumably, be less expensive.
Many who were or would have been housed in mental institutions, find themselve housed in penal institutions. Which do you think is better for them? Some of them find themselves living on the streets.
JWink, the parole board is hearing cases tommorrow morning at 510 N. Main, 3rd floor. It starts at 11:00. As far as I know, it is open to the public. If you want to see how it works, maybe you could come by. I’ll be there with my family and friends who are trying to keep a convicted murderer in prison for life. He was paroled in California after being convicted of armed robbery, then he came to Kansas and killed a young couple who worked for my brother-in-law while robbing the business. He was given 2 life sentences, only to be paroled after 20 yrs (without the knowledge of his victim’s family and friends), then went back to his criminal ways and was sent up again for robbery and burglery. He comes up for parole every 3 yrs now, and we’re trying to keep him in prison where he belongs. It’s just not fair that he’s been given so much mercy when he never even considered giving any to his victims. The whole system is a joke, there is no real justice in this country. It’s a nightmare that those who loved and cared about this young couple have to relive such a horrible crime over and over again.
PS, It is in Wichita. It’s pretty interesting, usually both sides are there to present their side. I know the family of the murderer we’re trying to keep in jail will be there. They are very nice people who are only trying to do what they think is best for him. He was most certainly the bad seed in their family, his father was a well known minister in Wichita. He doesn’t deserve his family, he hurt them almost as much as he hurt us.
steve: Good question about which setting should people with serious mental health problems and those who have broken the law be put into. As a citizen, not involved in the incarceration business, I don’t have a good basis to know.
However, on the money side, here are the figures I see in this blog thread:
$130,000/year per resident of a mental health facility in Topeka or Parsons,
$30,000 to $40,000/year or more.I don’t know if these figures include all costs such as medical care, etc.
$25,000/year for a mental health out-patient in a “community” setting. Again I’m not sure what a community setting is — presumably a group home where residents can be monitered by staff.
$9,000/year — cost of providing education to students in the USD 259 school district. I put this in to give a comparison.
The obvious problem is that some large percentage of our population is in some form of “lock-up” in our prisons, jails, youth facilities, and mental health facilities. Seems like this might be 5% of our population — but perhaps someone reading this will clarify this figure.
Incarceration expenses is a huge portion of our Kansas state budget. Of course, the federal government reimburses some costs which becomes a “driver” in the justice system in respect to keeping people in jails rather than out in community settings.
But some people are really “bad” and need to be retained “within the walls” to be continually monitered.
Mary Caruso/Damoon: I will try to attend.
Thanks for coming today, JWink. It was pretty emotional for everyone involved. I’m glad it’s over, now we’ll see if they turn him lose or not.
That’s “loose”, we all know he’s a “loser”.
Mary Caruso: It was a learning experience. I hope your extended family came out of the meeting with some satisfaction. It was poignant to see both families visiting after the hearing considering the horrible situation they’ve been through.
I had thought the Kansas Parole Board had been eliminated. So it was interesting to walk in and see them working.
Actually, I slightly know Paul Feleciano, who appeared to be chairman of the parole board, from his days as state senator in the Kansas legislature. I didn’t know either of the other two members, Marilyn Scafe nor Robert Sanders.
Sounded like the laws they operate under changed in 1993 so they spend more time on cases of inmates who were sentenced before 1993.
For me it was emotionally draining, but I think it went well. The one who perpetrated this horrible crime is from a good family and they certainly don’t deserve what they’ve been through, especially his elderly mother. They are good Christians, so for them it’s all about forgiveness and redemption. What they don’t understand is that some people can’t be redeemed no matter how much others pray for them, no matter how badly others want it for them.I’m glad you came, it was nice to see you.
You might want to read the article again. These are people with severely developmental disabilities .. ie. mental retardation, autism, etc. NOT mental illness …. though some individuals may have both.