Return to Nicholas Johnson's Iowa Rain Forest ("Earthpark") Web Site
Return
to Nicholas Johnson's Blog, FromDC2Iowa
Raise prisons' standards for treating mentally ill
Betty Grundberg
Des Moines Register
February 8, 2007
[Note: This material is copyright by the Des Moines Register, and is reproduced here as a matter of "fair use" for non-commercial, educational purposes only. Any other use may require the prior approval of the Des Moines Register.]
Iowa has had opportunities to institute mental-health courts and has not done so.
Iowa has had the opportunity to provide adequate funding for the mentally ill. Instead, it has frozen the local property taxes dedicated to services for the mentally ill and provided only minimal increases for the state portion.
As Iowa has changed care for the mentally ill from hospitals and state institutions to jails and prisons, Iowa should then make certain that its jails and prisons meet the same standards required for hospitals.
Perhaps without an adequate response from the state or the judiciary, friends and relatives of people who suffer from mental illness should institute a statewide lawsuit to bring the jails and prisons that are caring for the mentally ill into compliance with hospital regulations.
Betty Grundberg
Des Moines