Stir Crazy in Texas

National Council Magazine

2010-03-14T10:54:00.000-07:00

The latest issue of National Council Magazine, “Beyond Bars: Mental Health-Addictions and Criminal Justice Collaborations” is available.

Articles focus on the crisis in our nation’s jails and prisons — men and women with mental illnesses and addictions incarcerated because they didn’t get the treatments they desperately need — and emphasize the possibilities of effective services. The magazine highlights the initiatives of National Council member organizations that are endlessly creative in overcoming financial, bureaucratic, and cultural barriers to nurture programs and services that offer productive lives to people with mental illnesses and addictions as the alternative to incarceration.

Review and Comment on the DSM-5

2010-02-13T08:31:00.000-08:00

This is your opportunity to be heard.

DSM-5 Draft Criteria Available for Public Comment through April 20

The American Psychiatric Association is seeking your comments on proposed criteria for the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health and other health professionals for diagnostic and research purposes. Proposed DSM-5 draft criteria will be available for review and comment at www.DSM5.org from February 10 to April 20, 2010. Health professionals, consumers of mental health services and family members are invited to visit the site to review and comment on the draft criteria.

DSM-5 remains a work in progress: following the public comment period, the DSM-5 Task Force and Work Groups will spend two years reviewing and refining proposed criteria based on public comments and the results of field trials, which will be conducted in three phases to test some of the proposed diagnostic criteria in real-world clinical settings. The release of the final DSM-5 is expected in May 2013. For more information, visit www.DSM5.org.

Senate Interim Charges to the 81st Legislature Posted

2010-01-16T09:59:00.000-08:00

Senate Interim Charges posted.

Truvia Hearing Will be Friday

2010-01-12T09:01:00.000-08:00

Truvia not fit to proceed

2010-01-11T20:03:00.000-08:00

Evaluation: Student charged with killing teacher not fit for trial yet

By Taylor Hemness - bio | email
Posted by Ellen Krafve - bio | email

TYLER, TX (KLTV) - It has been three and a half months since Todd Henry was killed while teaching a class at John Tyler High School. If things go as expected at a hearing later this week, it will be another three months before his accused killer will face a jury. We learned Monday that Byron Truvia is not fit to stand trial just yet.

But, the difference this time is, since the last hearing, the court, the prosecution, and the defense have all been provided with an evaluation of Truvia that was done by a forensic psychologist. That evaluation says that Truvia is not fit to proceed.

Another hearing has been scheduled for Friday, and Truvia's attorney says that he expects both sides to agree on the assessment, and that Truvia will be sent to a state mental hospital for 90 days, during which time more evaluations will be done.

Truvia's attorney also says Truvia's mother has known that her son needed special care for a long time, and that this won't be his first time to have this kind of care.

"He had been through a couple of facilities in New Orleans, one of which was shut down by Katrina [and] the other lost all their records as a result of Katrina," explained James Huggler. "[He has a] lengthy mental health history, and that continued once he got here to Texas."

Huggler says that after that 90 days, if doctors at the hospital believe that Truvia is fit to proceed, the trial process will resume. But, Truvia will stay in the state's care until he is fit to proceed, and Huggler says that could take years.

Huggler added that the family is very happy with the decision because they know that something is wrong with Truvia, and want to make sure he gets the best treatment possible.

Some Youths Need Access To Services Outside TYC

2010-01-10T06:57:00.000-08:00

Article published Jan 10, 2010
Posted on
Sunday, January 10, 2010
On The Scene: Some Youths Need Access To Services Outside TYC
By DAYNA WORCHEL
Staff Writer

In a recent article, I reported on an Associated Press story that discussed current state law mandates that the Texas Youth Commission release juveniles who have served their sentences and are not making progress in the Commission's mental health treatment program.

The story specifically mentioned the stabbing death of John Tyler High School Teacher Todd Henry, and how the youth who is accused in the stabbing was released from the TYC without receiving follow-up mental health services.

My goal here is not to specifically discuss the Tyler youth, or to criticize the TYC. The job the professionals have there can be enormously challenging. I want to get across how crucial it is for these juveniles to have access to these services once they are discharged from the system.

Jim Hurley, public information officer for the TYC, said the agency is required to release juveniles to their parents or guardians who have completed their minimum confinement period and if the youth have a primary brain disorder that keeps them from progressing in treatment. He said it is up to the TYC mental health professionals to make the determination of whether or not the youth is making that progress.

It was one comment Hurley made in the course of my interview with him that really hit home:

"Even when they are discharged, we cannot force a parent to make sure they get treatment," he said.

My first reaction upon hearing this statement was a feeling of utter hopelessness and futility. And then I felt worried, both as a parent and as a member of the society in which these youth will be released. My worry stems from the kind of world in which we are all going to be living when these young people, who do not receive appropriate follow-up care, continue to commit crimes which will affect us all. Some of these crimes may be vicious, such as the one in which the Tyler youth is accused.

Although there are no guarantees that receiving such follow-up care will stop a crime from happening, it certainly can help a troubled youth to get on the right track. It could also mean the difference between life and death for a potential crime victim.

Of course, there are a million different circumstances -- many of the youths who serve their time and are released still needing these services may not go home to parents at all. They may be returned to homes and situations where there is a guardian, perhaps an older sibling or other relative who must work at more than one job in order for the family to survive. It can be a struggle in such families just to put food on the table, much less see that a child receives follow-up medical care, no matter how badly it is needed.

But the mission of the TYC is unique from the state's adult prison system -- first, because it serves youths, and second, because it focuses on rehabilitation, education, and medical treatment.

In fact, the agency's mission statement on its Web site states in part "the juvenile corrections agency, promotes public safety by operating juvenile correctional facilities and by partnering with youth, families, and communities to provide a safe and secure environment where youth in the agency's care and custody receive individualized education, treatment, life skills and employment training and positive role models to facilitate successful community reintegration."

The key words are "partnering," "families," "communities" and especially "successful community reintegration." It takes parents or guardians, institutions, and communities working together to see a youth successfully rehabilitate so that he can be a productive and contributing citizen in society, if such rehabilitation is possible. The only other choice is for the child to go back to the same behavior which put him in the TYC in the first place.

It would appear there is a bright spot on the horizon. Rep. Jim McReynolds, D-Lufkin, authored HB 4451 in the last legislative session. The legislation authorizes a child with mental illness or mental retardation who is discharged from the TYC after having served his sentence to be eligible to receive continuity of care services from the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments.

But McReynolds, who is a retired educator, admits that the issue is complex and in his words "has many moving parts." As the Chair of the state's Corrections Committee, he said he has plans to hold interim hearings on the topic before the legislature meets again in 2011.

"I would like to see us do the best we can to redeem these young lives," McReynolds said. On that point, all of us can agree.

Putting Public Safety First -- 13 Parole Supervision Strategies to Enhance Reentry Outcomes

2010-01-01T12:09:00.000-08:00

Organization-level and individual-level strategies for improving the supervision of offenders in the community are described. Sections of this report include: introduction -- background and focus of this paper; define success as recidivism reduction and measure performance; tailor conditions of supervision; focus resources on moderate and high-risk parolees; front-load supervision resources; implement earned discharge; implement place-based supervision; engage partners to expand intervention capacities; assess criminogenic risk and need factors; develop and implement supervision case plans that balance surveillance and treatment; involve parolees to enhance their engagement in assessment, case planning, and supervision; engage informal social controls to facilitate community reintegration; incorporate incentives and rewards into the supervision process; employ graduated problem-solving responses to violations of parole conditions in a swift and certain manner; and repositioning parole supervision -- looking ahead.
Click here for the pdf.

Webinar Archive: Individuals with Mental Illnesses in the Criminal Justice System: Addressing Both Criminogenic Risks and Mental Health Needs

2009-12-28T20:21:00.000-08:00

During the webinar, held on November 18th, Dr. Jennifer Skeem provided an overview of how criminogenic risk factors contribute to the involvement of people with mental illnesses in the criminal justice system, discussed the need to develop approaches that take into account individuals’ criminogenic risk factors and their functional impairments, and presented an intervention model that does both. The webinar concluded with a question-and-answer period.

Click here to download or listen to the webinar.

Click here to download the powerpoint presentation.

Just to note, I have been trying all day to listen to the webinar archive with no luck. Admittedly, it could be the operator. Update: Use Internet Explorer, not Firefox.

Truvia case continues as options weighed

2009-12-28T18:35:00.000-08:00

Post from Tyler Paper:

State Trying To Certify Alleged Teacher Stabber As An Adult For Trial
By DAYNA WORCHEL
Staff Writer

Another detention hearing was waived on Monday in the case of the juvenile who is accused in the stabbing death of John Tyler High School teacher Todd Henry. The stabbing took place on September 23 while Henry sat at his desk inside of a special education classroom.

Jim Huggler, the youth’s attorney, said there are two ways in which the state may proceed—through discretionary transfer, or through a determinate sentence. He said the state has already filed a petition for discretionary transfer, which could lead to the accused juvenile to be tried as an adult.

“The state is in the process now of performing a court transfer study, which has been happening for the past few weeks,” he said.

There are several factors to consider when making that determination, according to the Texas Family Code. The first consideration is whether the alleged offense was against person or property, with the greater weight given in favor of offenses against a person. The other points to evaluate in the court transfer study are the sophistication and maturity of the child; the record and previous history of the child; and the prospects of adequate protection of the public and the likelihood of the rehabilitation of the child by use of procedures, services and facilities currently available to the juvenile court.

Huggler said he did not know when the process of the court transfer study would be complete.

The other possibility for the accused juvenile will be for a determinate sentence, which means that the youth’s case will be handled by the juvenile court system.

Watch TylerPaper.com and the Tyler Morning Telegraph today and Tuesday for more details on this story.

Post from KLTV.com
SMITH COUNTY, TX (KLTV) - Another hearing has taken place in the case of accused murderer Byron Truvia, 16. Truvia is accused of fatally stabbing his teacher at John Tyler High School in September.

The state has asked for Truvia's case to be moved to adult court. But, we learned prosecutors are also asking for something called a determinate sentencing.

Truvia's attorney says, if that happens, the court could find enough evidence to hand down a sentence of up to 40 years.

"That is one of the options," said Jim Huggler, Truvia's attorney. "That'll be up to the District Attorney to determine which road to take."

Truvia is still being held at the Smith County Juvenile Attention Center. Another hearing is scheduled in two weeks.

Evaluation of the Individual Process Ward for Juvenile Offenders Who Are Not Suitable for Group Treatment: Summary

2009-12-22T21:10:00.000-08:00

“The aim of the investigation is to acquire knowledge of the possible effects of the ITA [Individuele Trajectafdelinfg or Individual Process Ward] for juveniles in respect of whom a group approach within regular treatment wards has proved unsuitable” (p.1). Sections of this summary are: background of the investigation; aim of the investigation and formulation of the issues involved; structure of the investigation and working method; findings according to the ITA in theory (i.e., intended approach, effective methods and technologies, principles of effective interventions)and ITA in practice (i.e., the target group reached, implementation and realized preconditions, realized approach, incidents, sickness, absence, and staff turnover, targets attained by the juveniles; conclusion, and points for attention. It does not appear that risk of violence or recidivism is reduced by ITAs. Click here for the pdf.

Repeat Offenses in Texas Raise Questions Over Release of Mentally Ill Juveniles

2009-12-22T20:37:00.000-08:00

From the NY Times:
Repeat Offenses in Texas Raise Questions Over Release of Mentally Ill Juveniles

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 20, 2009

TYLER, Tex. (AP) — A 16-year-old former juvenile detainee was accused of stabbing a high school teacher to death with a butcher knife. Another teenager was convicted of killing a roofer during a robbery spree.

Both were released by the Texas Youth Commission because the agency was not equipped to treat their mental illnesses, and under the law, had to let them go.

The cases highlight what some juvenile justice experts say is a loophole in the way Texas treats under-age offenders with severe psychiatric issues. Data obtained by The Associated Press reveal that the commission has released more than 200 offenders because of mental health issues in the last five years and that more than one-fifth of them went on to commit new crimes, some of them violent.

“All these cases are failures where we should have done something different,” said Richard Lavallo, legal director for Advocacy Incorporated, an organization in Austin that helps children with disabilities.

In most states, young offenders are not discharged from custody because of mental illness unless they are being committed to hospitals. But under a 1997 law meant to keep mentally ill juveniles from being held in detention centers where they cannot get proper treatment, youths in Texas who are serving indeterminate sentences and who have completed their minimum required time in custody are released to parents or guardians.

While some experts said Texas should be commended for not warehousing such offenders where they cannot get treatment, they questioned the logic of releasing them without ensuring that they receive supervision.

“Without some requirement for supervision, it doesn’t seem like a sound policy to me,” said Gail Wasserman, a professor of clinical psychology at Columbia University and the director of its Center for the Promotion of Mental Health in Juvenile Justice.

The issue gained notoriety in September after the fatal stabbing of a special education teacher at John Tyler High School in Tyler. The teacher, Todd Henry, 50, was sitting at his desk in his classroom when he was attacked.

The Texas Youth Commission had released the boy accused of killing Mr. Henry in July because of multiple mental health issues, including schizophrenia, said his lawyer, Jim Huggler. The teenager, whom The A.P. was not identifying because he is a juvenile and has not been charged as an adult, had been committed in 2007 for aggravated assault.

Mr. Huggler said he had seen nothing to indicate that the boy’s family, which had moved to Tyler from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, had received a plan from officials on how to deal with his mental problems.

“This case is sad on so many levels,” he said.

The commission makes sure offenders released because of mental illness receive referrals to their local Mental Health and Mental Retardation centers. But there is nothing that requires the youths or their families to avail themselves of those services.

Cherie Townsend, the commission’s executive director, declined to comment about specific cases. But she acknowledged that it might be time to limit some of the releases for public safety reasons or require that some releases have conditions attached.

“We’ve got to find a middle ground where we assure public safety and accountability for actions that have taken place and at the same time find better ways to provide treatment for these youth,” Ms. Townsend said.

Any changes would have to be approved by the Legislature, which is not scheduled to meet again until January 2011.

Lawmakers did approve a measure in the spring that allows youths released from custody because of mental illness to receive case management services like those available to parolees.

But the author of the legislation, Representative Jim McReynolds, a Democrat, said the Tyler case had convinced him that the measure did not go far enough.

According to the youth commission, 206 juvenile offenders had been released in the last five years because of mental illness. Of those, 43 were incarcerated again. Most were returned to custody for burglary or robbery, but some were convicted of more serious offenses, including two for arson and two for sex crimes involving children.

Among those discharged was Jeremy Miera, 21, who is serving a life sentence for the fatal shooting of a 45-year-old roofer in May 2006.

Records provided to The A.P. by Mr. Miera’s family show that he was released on parole from a Texas Youth Commission facility in May 2005 and discharged entirely four months later for “inability to progress due to mental illness/retardation.”

TYC: Fewer Teens Discharged Over Mental Illness

2009-12-22T05:27:00.000-08:00

TYC: Fewer Teens Discharged Over Mental Illness
By DAYNA WORCHEL
Staff Writer

During the past two years, the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) has expanded its treatment abilities for incarcerated youth and has significantly reduced the number of juveniles it has discharged because of their failure to make progress while in treatment for mental health issues, said Jim Hurley, public information officer for the TYC on Monday.

Hurley was not able to give specific numbers of releases but said that every youth who is admitted to the TYC is evaluated individually. "If they have been diagnosed with mental health issues, we have psychologists and psychiatrists and medication to treat them, and we also may send them to the Corsicana Crisis Stabilization Unit," he said.

The comments came in response to a widely distributed Associated Press story on Sunday night that stated that the 16-year-old juvenile who stabbed John Tyler High School Teacher Todd Henry in September was released from the TYC because the agency wasn't equipped to deal with his illness and had to release him under Texas law. Henry was sitting at his desk in his classroom when he was attacked.

The juvenile accused of the crime is being held in the Smith County Jail. His attorney, Jim Huggler, has requested that each of his scheduled detention hearings at the Smith County Juvenile Attention Center be waived in the "best interest of his client." The hearings have been scheduled every two weeks since the youth's arrest in September.

In July, the TYC had discharged the boy who later was accused in the killing of Henry. His dis- charge came because he had been diagnosed with mental health issues including schizophrenia, Huggler said.

The story also mentioned Jeremy Miera, now 21, who is serving a lifetime prison sentence for the fatal shooting of a 45-year-old roofer in May 2006. Records provided to the AP by Miera's family show that he was released on parole from a Texas Youth Commission facility in May 2005 and discharged entirely four months later for "inability to progress due to mental illness and mental retardation."

It was his second stint in juvenile detention after originally being committed at 15 for robbery and being returned for fighting at school.

While in juvenile custody, Miera was diagnosed with depressive disorder. His parole included intensive surveillance and conditions that required him to seek employment, do community service, remain at home in the evening and continue taking the antidepressant Prozac.

In most states, youthful offenders aren't discharged from custody because of mental illness unless they are being committed to hospitals. But under a 1997 law meant to keep mentally ill juveniles from being held in detention centers where they can't get proper treatment, Texas youths who are serving indeterminate sentences and who have completed their minimum required time in custody are released to their parents or guardians.

"We are required by law to discharge them if they have completed their minimum period confinement period and if they have a primary brain disorder that keeps them from progressing in our mental health programs," Hurley said. He said that because he is not a mental health professional, he is unable to determine when a youth is not making such progress.

"Even when they are discharged, we cannot force a parent to make sure they get treatment," Hurley said.

In cases in which youths are being placed on parole from the TYC, he said no one is released without re-entry planning. Hurley said the Commission works with mental health providers to ensure there is a plan in place to address the parolees' needs and that they monitor parolees.

Lawmakers approved a measure last spring that allows youth released from custody due to mental illness to receive case management services like those available to parolees. But the author of the legislation, Rep. Jim McReynolds, D-Lufkin, said the Tyler case has convinced him that the measure doesn't go far enough. "This has to be looked at much more globally than a little quick fix," he said.

According to the TYC, 206 juvenile offenders have been released in the past five years because of diagnosed mental illness. Of those, 43 have been reincarcerated. Most were returned to custody for burglary or robbery, but some were convicted of more serious offenses, including two for arson and two for sex crimes involving children.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Hooks found NGRI

2009-12-09T04:54:00.001-08:00

Judge Declares Murder Suspect Legally Insane
By COSHANDRA DILLARD
Staff Writer

QUITMAN -- After more than four years in and out of court for murder, aggravated assault charges and competency hearings, Wood County officials say Kaleb Richard Hooks will most likely spend the rest of his life at Vernon State Hospital. The 402nd district court concluded Hooks suffers from a severe mental illness and will "likely cause serious harm to others."

After reviewing medical evidence and hearing testimony from defense counsel Monday, Judge G. Timothy Boswell found Hooks was legally insane at the time of an attack on a Wood County Justice Center inmate. The aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge, a first-degree felony, was enhanced with a hate crime paragraph, as Hooks yelled racial slurs while attacking a fellow inmate. Wood County District Attorney Jim Wheeler said the charge is in the same category as a murder charge.

Although Hooks has not been convicted of a murder charge, stemming from the 2005 beating death of an East Texas man, Wheeler said he is satisfied that Hooks will be locked away for good and unable to harm anyone else.

"The statute of limitations does not run out on a murder case," Wheeler said. "In the unlikely event that he is released, he'll still have to answer to that charge. Our commitment is to protect the public."

The trial for the aggravated assault charge began in September, but it ended in a mistrial after Hooks disrupted court by "acting up" and had to be restrained during the jury selection phase.

Prior to the trial, his defense attorneys -- Clifton "Scrappy" Holmes and David Moore -- insisted that Hooks be evaluated again.

Hooks was initially charged with murder in 2005 following the beating death of 47-year-old Steven Tinney. He was found competent to stand trial, but later released from that charge in 2007, after doctors found that he was incompetent. He was ordered to Vernon State Hospital then, but later deemed competent again by doctors. Since that time, officials say Hooks continued to disrupt court, and allegedly, was violent toward a Wood County jailer, in which he has another charge.

Wheeler said Hooks' mental illness may be the result of abusing inhalants, which allegedly occurred after he made bail on the murder charge in 2005.

Free Summit on Mental Health and Juvenile Justice

2009-12-07T17:41:00.000-08:00

Join Texans Care for Children and Texas Mental Health and Juvenile Justice Action Network for the:
Texas Summit on
Mental Health and Juvenile Justice
Featuring presentations, panel discussions, and more with
Texas parents of system‐involved youth and national experts from :
• The National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice
• The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
• The New York State Office of Children and Family Services
FREE
9 a.m. ‐ 3 p.m.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
In the Capitol Building Auditorium in Austin

Click Here For the Form

Guillory Lynches Himself

2009-12-05T22:00:00.000-08:00

Although Mr. Guillory claims that Judge Getz has publicly lynched him, I think that Guillory did that to himself. You know if you give a man enough rope . . .
Case in point, here's a story from KETK and Guillory's response the following day.

Story by Roger Gray:

He describes himself as autodidactic, which means self taught.

And he is the loudest element in the case of murdered John Tyler teacher Todd Henry.

And, he is a bishop to boot.

He claims to be the Ombudsman General. He claims to be a Unitarian Bishop.

Both of those titles were self-awarded by Leroy Joseph Guillory, who has now inserted himself into the case of the John Tyler High School stabbing suspect.

According to sources in Henderson, where he owns a home, Guillory made several accusations of racism there against the police department, U.S. Post Office, and the city in general.

He came from California, where he ran for congress, garnering 1.1% of the vote, and more importantly, went to prison.

Guillory was given 15 years in prison in Los Angeles for kidnapping. He was apparently paroled and formed his own governmental watchdog group, Ombudsman International.

The group has two addresses, one in Washington D.C. and one in Beverly Hills. Both are PO Boxes.

He claims to be a Unitarian bishop, but that denomination has no true ordained clergy.

And now he represents the family of the accused John Tyler stabber.

And he has made the firing of court-appointed attorney Jim Huggler his mission…

And that has earned him the scorn of Judge Jim Getz who has banned Guillory from the courthouse grounds.

Guillory has been quoted as claiming the entire process is racist, and the city to boot.

Whether he continues to be a presence in this case isn’t much in doubt.

Unless of course, he is named a Cardinal.

RESPONSE:
Tuesday we told you about Bishop L.J. Guillory, who is involved in the case of the student accused of stabbing a teacher to death at John Tyler High School.

He still says he is a Bishop in the Unitarian Church, and that the Smith County justice system is so racist, a fair trial for the accused stabbing suspect is impossible.

We sat down with him today…

He claims a doctorate of divinity from Bailey’s Temple, and Christ Paradise Church in Tyler.

“I didn’t assume it, it was bestowed on me.” He says.

“By whom?” we asked.

“By an Archbishop and 7 Bishops.”

He owns up to his time spent in prison, but Guillory has a bigger message to deliver.

He claims that attorney Jim Huggler, who represents the John Tyler High School stabbing suspect, is incompetent,

“My problem with Mr. Huggler,” Guillory says, “is the problem I would have with anyone who lies to the clients mother and other individuals about what he did and what he didn’t do.”

“I am an outstanding attorney,” Huggler told us by phone late Thursday. “I am a past president of the Smith County Bar Association. I am a past president of the Smith County Criminal Defense Attorney’s Association. I am a speaker for the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. I am board certified in criminal law, and there are about 838 lawyers out of about 80,000 that have achieved that level of professionalism.”

Huggler says this is interfering with what is a very serious case…

“He’s crossed the line himself and he’s done it multiple times,” Huggler told us.

“That’s not inserting yourself,” Guillory responds. “Any American can do that. Unless you’re black…in Tyler.
And Guillory also says, Judge Floyd Getz is racist.

“For a judge to publically lynch you, to publically humiliate you…” he complains.

And he says it is the corrupt Smith County justice system that has preordained the outcome in this case…

"The Judge has already predetermined how this was going to work,” Guillory says. “That everybody was in place. Oh Bishop Guillory is coming here to change things. I don't like the way he's doing things boss. Can you please get rid of him for me? Bring that negro forward. I'll deal with that negro. Negro what are you doing here? Didn't you go to prison. Didn't we taint your name? Get your tail out of here. But, what he don't understand is that there is still people in Washington that listen to me."

Thanks, Roger Gray, for reporting on this. People like Guillory really taint those who are really trying to make positive changes in the justice system.

Extremist, Self-Proclaimed Bishop, Guillory Has His Own Blog

2009-12-05T10:37:00.000-08:00

This man gives civil rights activists a bad name and he's created his own blog to promote himself. His rhetoric reminds me of the Turkey on National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, all show, no meat. Judge for yourself: http://bishopguillory.blogspot.com/ At least he admits on his blog that he is not related to the government in any way. Notice he does not allow comments to be posted to his entries.

Previous posts on Guillory:
OMG - Guillory barred from Byron Truvia Proceedings
Truvia Family Seeks New Lawyer says Family Spokesperson
Truvia Ruled Fit to Proceed (without an evaluation): Where's the Integrity in the Justice System?

CJAD's latest Report to the Governor on Diversion Funding

2009-12-05T09:33:00.000-08:00

TDCJ this week issued its latest report to the Governor analyzing the results from expanded prison diversion funding at Texas probation departments, giving us a sense of the initial results from Texas' investments in community corrections in the 79th and 80th Legislatures. Here's the report.

From Gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com:

Departments that received diversion funds from the 79th and 80th Legislatures reduced their revocations by 4.14%, while departments that didn't get the money saw their revocations increase by 9.79%. (Departments had to agree to implement diversion strategies to get the money and some didn't want to.) Even more startlingly, departments receiving diversion funds saw technical revocations (for rule violations instead of new crimes) decline by 14.24%, while in departments receiving no funding, technical revocations increased by 11.51%.

How did Smith County do? Well, there was a 17.1% increase in felony revocations, and 24.6% increase in overall felony placements. And, no, Smith County was not willing to implement the suggested diversion strategies so they did not get the diversion funds. So, Smith County out-revoked the state average for those counties receiving no funding. Way to go Smith County! Still sending folks to prison in record numbers! (For those of you not catching the sarcasm, having a history of sending the most people to prison per capita is not good).

Key questions in mental competency issue

2009-12-04T04:41:00.000-08:00

From Dallas Morning News

Key questions in mental competency issue

If a judge approves the Army's request for a mental responsibility evaluation, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's sanity will be evaluated by a board that includes a physician or clinical psychologist. The board must decide four questions:

• Was the gunman suffering from "a severe mental disease or defect" at the time of the crime?

• What is the clinical psychiatric diagnosis?

• Did the mental illness make the accused unable to understand the "wrongfulness of his or her conduct?"

• Does the mental illness prevent the defendant from assisting defense lawyers?

OMG - Guillory barred from Byron Truvia Proceedings

2009-12-01T04:45:00.000-08:00

Family spokesperson barred from future hearings
Posted: Nov 30, 2009 5:14 PM CST Updated: Nov 30, 2009 5:14 PM CST
Video Gallery
Family spokesperson barred from future hearings
1:48
RAW: Bishop Leroy Guillory's outburst in court
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Janis Demarest - email
Posted by Ellen Krafve - bio | email

TYLER, TX (KLTV) - What started as a routine hearing in the case of Byron Truvia took an unexpected turn Monday afternoon.

The scheduled detention hearing only took only a few minutes, but an outsiders involvement quickly led to some heated moments, in and outside of the courtroom. The man at the center of controversy is Bishop LJ Guillory. He is serving as a spokesman for the Truvia family. In the last few weeks he has been working to have the teen's attorney Jim Huggler removed from the case.

Monday, the judge had Guillory removed from the courtroom and barred from the Smith County juvenile facility.

"Smith County has not heard the last of Bishop Guillory," yelled Bishop Guillory. "You may take away mobility but my mentalitiy is my own. I will be back with the feds and we will be over there marching and protesting and fighting 'cause God is in control, amen."

Judge Floyd Getz also told Guillory he will consider issuing a protective order that would bar him from any involvement in this case.

"The judge certainly has the ability to control who comes into his courtroom," said Jim Huggler, Truvia's attorney. "Courts are public places and you have to ask yourself what Mr. Guillory did that got him excluded from this juvenile center."

Judge Getz also noted that the relationship between Jim Huggler and Byron Truvia's family has been strained because of Guillory's interference.

Huggler said that his relationship with his client has not been damaged.

Judge Questions Guillory:

Judge Ousts Family Spokesman
By KENNETH DEAN
Staff Writer

The spokesman for the family of a teenager accused of fatally stabbing John Tyler High School teacher Todd Henry earlier this year was told Monday during a court hearing he would be arrested if he set foot back on the property of the Smith County Juvenile Attention Center.

During an exchange of questions after an ex parte hearing, Judge Floyd Getz asked Bishop L.J. Guillory about his contact with court personnel and a probation officer regarding the case.

Getz said he felt the contact was inappropriate and, because Guillory was not an immediate family member or guardian of the juvenile and not the attorney in the case, he should not be involved with the case.

"I understand that as recent as today you have made contact with the court coordinator and with officers of the court to gain information about the case," Getz said.

Guillory said he had made contact and was doing so in order to gain information as to the process of having the teen's attorney, Jim Huggler, removed from the case because he and the family felt Huggler had proven to be "incompetent."

Getz then asked Guillory if he had ever served time in prison and Guillory responded he had for three felonies in California.

Getz asked Guillory about Ombudsman International and his role in the organization. Guillory said the organization has thousands of members and was established to help people with injustices. Getz then asked Guillory where he went to seminary and Guillory replied, "I didn't, but neither did Jesus Christ."

After asking Huggler what he thought Guillory's involvement in the case had done, Huggler said he felt it had caused irreparable damage to his relationship with the teen's mother Denise Truvia and other family members.

Getz told Guillory he was being warned away from the building and if he returned would be arrested for criminal trespass. He added he was considering placing a protective order in the case, which would bar Guillory from any further involvement in the case and any contact with the teen's family.

Guillory, who was then escorted from the premises by Smith County Sheriff's deputies, shouted that Smith County and Getz were racists and he was not afraid of Getz or of the justice system in the county.

"Smith County is racist and has not seen the last of Bishop L.J. Guillory. What just happened is like a town hall lynching," he said, shaking his fist at the building as deputies watched. Moments later, Guillory, Ms. Truvia and her sister sped from the parking lot in the bishop's Cadillac Escalade.

ACCUSATIONS

LEVELED

Guillory and Ms. Truvia then addressed CBS19 and the

Tyler Morning Telegraph

at the television station's offices about the injustices he contends are being conducted in Tyler regarding the case.

Guillory said he would be sure to follow the law and would be questioning other judges as to Getz's decision to bar him from any further proceedings at the Juvenile Attention Center.

"We all have a responsibility to do our best to help others and that is what I am doing. I will stay away from the building until a real judge says Getz does not have that authority," he said.

Ms. Truvia said she had sought Guillory's help after her son was detained and added, "He is the family's spokesperson."

"He's only trying to help and Bishop Guillory is a good man," she said.

She added she was sorry for Henry's death and her heart went out to his widow and family members for their loss.

"My boy was and is sick and he needs help," she said.

Guillory contends Huggler is "incompetent as an attorney" because he is not communicating with the family nor asking their thoughts on what needs to be done in the case.

Guillory then leveled accusations that Huggler had been fired from the Smith County District Attorney's Office for "unscrupulous actions" and questioned why Huggler took a reporter to Ms. Truvia's home for an interview without her permission.

Smith County First Assistant District Attorney April Sykes said Guillory's inflammatory accusations about Huggler, a former president of the Smith County Bar Association, and his job performance as an assistant district attorney were false.

"Jim Huggler was not fired from the Smith County District Attorney's Office, and he certainly never committed any unscrupulous actions," she said.

Guillory said everything combined proves Huggler is not the right attorney for Ms. Truvia's son.

"She doesn't have the money to hire an attorney, but I do and I will put up everything I have to see that justice is done in this case," he said tossing land deeds and car titles on a conference table to stress his point.

Guillory and Ms. Truvia said they did not believe the teen should be allowed to go home, but having Huggler continue to waive detention hearings, as he did Monday, was not the right thing to be doing.

"We're not saying he should be released, but we are saying he needs to be somewhere that he can get the mental help he needs," Guillory said about the teen being detained.

The teen is scheduled to appear before Judge Getz on Dec. 14 for his next detention hearing.

Responses to Proposed Substance Abuse Treatment Services

2009-11-25T12:19:00.000-08:00

Click HERE for the document.

Summary Responses to Stakeholder Comments
Request for Information (RFI) on Proposed Substance Abuse Treatment Services DRAFT Request for Proposal (RFP), please see the summary response to comments that were submitted in advance of the deadline.

Jail Incarceration, Homelessness, and Mental Health: A National Study

2009-11-25T07:51:00.000-08:00

The relationship between homelessness and mental illness in jail inmates is examined. Inmates who had been homeless before incarceration made up 15.3% of the jail population, 7.5 to 11.3 times the rate of homelessness for the general public. Mental illness increased an inmate's probability of being homeless prior to incarceration.
Click HERE for the article.

Ending an American Tragedy: A National Leadership Forum Webinar

2009-11-24T21:33:00.000-08:00

The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare has organized a webinar to review recommendations for effective collaboration outlined in a recent report from the National Leadership Forum on Behavioral Health/Criminal Justice Services. Forum leaders highlight current innovative and successful programs across the country. The presenters will discuss the Essential System of Care and how it can be used in planning community responses to justice involved persons. The National Leadership Forum is co-chaired by the National Council and the CMHS National GAINS Center. To register for the webinar: http://www.thenationalcouncil.org/cs/national_council_live/upcoming_webinars#dec_8

Parnham, MH Task Force Recommend Harris County Reintegration Center

2009-11-23T11:22:00.000-08:00

Steps being taken to help Harris County mental health inmates
by Alex Sanz

Posted on November 22, 2009 at 6:55 PM

HOUSTON -- The head of the Harris County Judicial Mental Health Task Force is expected to present sweeping recommendations on how to help mental health inmates at the Harris County Jail in a report to be presented to county commissioners in December.

Among the recommendations crafted by the prominent Houston attorney George Parnham is a reintegration center where inmates with mental health problems can be transitioned back into society.

Harris County, he said, needed to provide inmates with case managers to help them secure employment, housing and social services. The process would begin at the Harris County Jail and eventually move to a stand-alone facility.

"The Harris County Jail is the largest mental health facility probably in the state of Texas and ranks, I'm sure, in the top ten in the United States," he said. "It is, without question, a warehouse whereby we just stack beds and put people that are mentally ill in them. It's something that touches everybody. Either directly or indirectly. And people have to become aware of it."

There are as many as 10,000 inmates, on any given day, at the Harris County Jail. About 20 percent have a history of mental problems. Statistics show the vast majority of them will reoffend and end up back in jail.

"We're [finally] talking about it," said Parnham, who spent much of the past year working with the mental health task force at the request of Sheriff Adrian Garcia. "There are systems in place in the county jail that answer some of these issues but we're not going to let go of this."

Final cost estimates had not been finalized but Parnham said the proposed reintegration center would ease jail overcrowding and become a model for other law enforcement agencies in Texas.

Hogg Foundation 2009 Legislative Update

2009-11-17T09:46:00.000-08:00

The 2009 Legislative Update is the latest in a series of reports published by the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health to inform stakeholders about mental health-related laws considered by the Texas Legislature. The 53-page online report summarizes the most significant mental health-related bills introduced during the 81st legislative session, which ended June 1, 2009.

Veterans' Courts

2009-11-13T20:56:00.000-08:00

From Marc Levin at the Texas Public Policy Foundation:

Veterans Are Frequently Incarcerated. The Bureau of Justice Statistics found in a 2000 survey—the most recent information available—that 12.5 percent of state prison inmates reported military service.1 Similarly, 11.7 percent of county jail inmates reported military service. All told, more than 200,000 veterans are behind bars. Of veterans in state prisons, 30 percent were first-time offenders, compared to 23 percent of non-veterans. Veterans were more likely to have a history of alcohol dependence than non-veterans. Of veteran inmates, 30.6 percent reported alcohol dependence compared with 23.6 percent of non-veterans. Additionally, 70 percent of veterans in state prisons were employed prior to being arrested, compared with 54 percent of non-veterans. Veterans behind bars were more likely to be mentally ill, with 19.3 percent reporting mental illness compared with 15.8 percent of nonveterans. More than three-quarters of veterans behind bars were honorably discharged.

Read the rest HERE.

Overview of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Issues in Texas from SAMHSA

2009-11-13T20:51:00.000-08:00

SAMHSA Reports
OAS States in Brief Report for Texas

The report below contains a brief overview of the substance abuse and mental health issues within the state of TX, including the prevalence of substance use and abuse, treatment resources, mental health indicators, and SAMHSA grant funding. To review this state’s information, click on the PDF link below.

OAS State Report for Texas

The report below contains a brief overview of adolescent behavioral health issues within the state of TX, with a focus on the differences between girls and boys ages 12 to 17. To review this state’s information, click on the PDF link below.

OAS Short State Report for Adolescents in Texas

2009-11-12T07:57:00.000-08:00

The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center is pleased to announce its seventh webinar in the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program Series, sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Assistance

Individuals with Mental Illnesses in the Criminal Justice System: Addressing Both Criminogenic Risks and Mental Health Needs
Community corrections and mental health professionals need to make the most effective use of limited resources when they respond to people with mental illnesses involved in the criminal justice system. They must ensure that supervision strategies and treatment interventions are both tailored to individuals' risks for future criminal activity and their clinical needs.

Dr. Jennifer Skeem will provide an overview of how criminogenic risk factors contribute to the involvement of people with mental illnesses in the criminal justice system, discuss the need to develop approaches that take into account individuals' criminogenic risk factors and their functional impairments, and present an intervention model that does both. The webinar will conclude with a question-and-answer period.

Jennifer Skeem, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Psychology and Social Behavior
University of California-Irvine

November 18, 2009 at 2:00-3:00 PM, Eastern Time
For more information and to register, please click the link below:
https://csg.webex.com/csg/onstage/g.php?d=961561889&t=a

*This webinar requires registration. Please use the participant's e-mail address to which the appropriate sign-in password and instructions will be sent. A confirmation e-mail from Webex will be sent upon successful registration with additional details.

Ending An American Tragedy: Addressing the Needs of Justice-Involved People with Mental Illnesses and Co-Occurring Disorders

2009-11-11T15:58:00.000-08:00

The National Leadership Forum on Behavioral Health/Criminal Justice Services (NLF) was established in 2008 to address common barriers to successful diversion and reentry – the lack of accessible, quality and appropriate services that help individuals remain and succeed in the community. Forum members represent leading experts in the fields of criminal justice, consumer advocacy, and mental health. These individuals are consumers, directors and CEOs of national consumer organizations, judges and public defenders, mental health practitioners, state mental health agency representatives, state department of corrections directors, and other national leaders in the field. Meetings are used to review the condition of the criminal justice and mental health systems, draft methods for improving key areas of these two systems, organize materials and documents created by the NLF for dissemination, and review the impact these documents have on fostering change in criminal justice/mental health policy and practice at the federal, state, and community levels.

The goal of the NLF is to go beyond previous efforts to address diversion and reentry for persons with mental illness that become justice involved. To do this, the NLF is developing an annual report that will identify several methods on how to improve current practices in these two systems and will make clear that:

* The increase number of persons with mental illness in the justice system is a public health and a public safety crisis that demands urgent attention;
* We know how to successfully address the needs of people with mental and substance use disorders who come in contact with the criminal justice system;
* The information that is already available needs to be put into practice; and
* The time for action is now!

The first report, Ending An American Tragedy: Addressing the Needs of Justice-Involved People with Mental Illnesses and Co-Occurring Disorders, provides 4 recommendations for immediate action. These recommendations include:

* The President should appoint a Special Advisor for Mental Health/Criminal Justice Collaboration;
* Federal Medicaid policies that limit or discourage access to more effective and cost-efficient health care services for individuals with serious mental illnesses and co-occurring substance use disorders should be reviewed and action taken to create more efficient programs;
* All States should create cross-system agencies, commissions, or positions charged with removing barriers and creating incentives for cross-agency activity at the State and local level; and
* Localities must develop and implement core services that comprise an Essential System of Care;

Each year the report will be updated to provide details on the state of the field and make further recommendations for action. The NLF will meet once a year to track the progress of the recommendations made from previous years and suggest areas for improvement. Click the following link to download a copy of Ending An American Tragedy. http://www.gainscenter.samhsa.gov/html/nlf/pdfs/AmericanTragedy.pdf

TYC to stop Psych discharges

2009-11-04T15:50:00.000-08:00

It's a shame that a teacher had to die for change to happen! Maybe we will start funding community mental health treatment now (as opposed to just throwing pills at the kids and hoping they catch them)!

TYC: Mentally ill offenders won't be discharged without proper services
by Emily Ramshaw | about 14 hours ago | 0 Comments

The Texas Youth Commission will stop releasing young offenders who are too mentally ill to rehabilitate until the agency is sure they’re receiving proper treatment in the community, officials said Wednesday.

Bizarre History of Truvia Family - Murder, Mental Illness and the Innocence Project

2009-11-03T22:39:00.001-08:00

Truvia's uncle, Gregory Truvia, killed his mother (Byron's grandmother) and pleaded insanity though unsuccessfully. He received life in prison. Click here for a link to a new release on that.
Here's more info on that murder.

Earl Truvia, another uncle, was convicted of murder, but later the conviction was overturned and charges dismissed after the Innocence Project found evidence that another person did the crime. Here's info on that.

Truvia family seeks new lawyer says spokesman - UPDATED

2009-11-03T20:15:00.000-08:00

Who is this guy (Guillory)? Why is he going after the attorney, when he should be griping about the judge's impropriety? Well I did a search and it appears that he is is from Compton, CA. He appears to be into self promotion and has little to do with advocacy. It looks like he is running for Congress in California, so what's he doing here? It looks like he just shows up where ever there's a story to get some "air time." If I were the Truvia family, I would be weary of this guy - he's probably going to exploit the situation for a book deal or other self promotion ops.

Here's his bio from his myspace page:

Bio of The Hon. Bishop L.J. Guillory He is a Published Author, "I Know Why The Caged Lion Roars" Million Dollar Political and Entertainment Consultant, Bishop over a National Unitarian Prison Ministry, and most of all, an autodidactic [self taught] non-compromising Ombudsman General. He holds a Doctorate Of Divinity in religious counsel from Bailey’s Temple and Christ Paradise Church, Educational Institution at Tyler, Texas. As a Special Events Consultant, Guillory has met numerous Hollywood Entertainment Executives as well as most Washington, D.C. Political Insiders. With his Hollywood contacts and his humanitarian ideals, he is destined to be everyone’s … “Hottest New Discovery”. www.Ombudsmaninc.Org The truth is Guillory is no stranger to Hollywood as a savvy Music Industry Insider or to the rest of the nation as an Advocate Against Human Injustices. In 2000, the Honorable Bishop L.J. Guillory, Ombudsman General , established the Ombudsman International, a 501 (c) (3) [Government Oversight Agency] Non-Profit for Public Benefit Organization. www.Ombudsmaninc.Org The Office of the Ombudsman General was founded based on the firsthand experience of the Honorable Bishop L.J. Guillory, who suffered at the hands of a corrupt police department, an unfair and unbalanced judicial system, as well as corrupt public officials. After becoming a free man and a Mason, the Ombudsman General began exposing corruption from the city hall to the capitol of the state of California, and to the halls of Congress, the Ombudsman General felt compelled to write the story of how the institution was founded and why the Caged Lion Roars.

He holds a Doctorate Of Divinity in religious counsel from Bailey’s Temple and Christ Paradise Church, Educational Institution at Tyler, Texas
WHAT THE HECK IS THAT? And I hold an autodidactic PhD in Tauris Faeces from Stir Crazy educational institute right down the road. Here's a picture of Bailey's Temple and Christ Paradise Church, 2715 N. Tenneha Ave., Tyler, Texas, a 501c3 institution.

Who's investigating this corruption? What a fraud! Looks like the Truvia Family has a fool for a spokesperson.

UPDATE: It appears that Guillory said that Dallas attorney, Gerald Smith, is interested in the job; however, Gerald Smith denied this and states that Jim Huggler is a very competent attorney. Furthermore, the criminologist that Guillory speaks of had never contacted Jim Huggler. Is Bishop Guillory lying? He probably needs to spend more time on his knees instead of on his soap box.

Truvia family seeks new lawyer says spokesman
Posted: Nov 03, 2009 6:19 PM CST Updated: Nov 03, 2009 6:42 PM CST

Posted by Ellen Krafve - bio | email

TYLER, TX (KLTV) - A spokesman for the Truvia family says the family is looking for other representation. Bishop L.J. Guillory says Dallas attorney, Gerald Smith, has expressed interest in representing Byron Anthony Truvia. Truvia is still in custody for allegedly stabbing a John Tyler High School teacher to death. Guillory claims 16-year-old Byron Truvia's court appointed attorney is incompetent. He says that makes it impossible for the young man to receive a fair trial.

"In Smith County, if you don't have good representation, more than likely, you're going to prison," said Guillory. "You can't win a case like this. The only thing that you can do is ask for justice to prevail which means that this young man gets the help that he so desperately needs and that the victims get the help that they need at this time."

Guillory says he's also contacted a criminologist and mental health professional to help in the case.

Truvia Ruled Fit to Proceed (without an evaluation): Where's Integrity in the Justice System?

2009-11-02T14:56:00.000-08:00

Surely this will be contested/appealed, but I'm not certain what the process for this is in the juvenile system. It's a shame that Judge Getz would risk not having an evaluation for fitness to proceed. The whole nation is watching this and the prudent action would be to err on the side of caution. A report from Terrell State Hospital in May as evidence that he is fit to proceed? A six month old report about crisis stabilization is an inadequate substitute for a fitness to proceed evaluation. Rather, it is evidence FOR the evaluation. Are they so anxious to prosecute this child that they risk the case by not utilizing integrity and prudent protocol?

In a bizarre twist, Bishop LJ Guillory, founder of Ombudsman International, a non-profit government oversight agency (whatever that is) accuses Truvia's attorney, James Huggler, of being incompetent. He premises this by suggesting that Huggler has refused assistance from a criminologist from Wiley College. This just distracts from where the focus needs to be. According to Texas Law, only a psychiatrist or a psychologist with a specific forensic training can evaluate fitness to proceed. Mr. Huggler is smart to be weary of free expertise from a criminologist (is there a licensure for this in Texas?) Free expertise is often the costliest of all, when it comes to the future of this child's defense. There is nothing to suggest James Huggler is incompetent; Guillory's argument is just fallacious. Providing documentation from the state hospital and TYC are perfectly acceptable means of providing support for the motion to evaluate for fitness to proceed.

By the way, the state has petitioned to try him as an adult.

From Tylerpaper.com

Judge: John Tyler Stabbing Suspect Fit To Stand Trial
By DAYNA WORCHEL
Staff Writer

Smith County Judge Floyd Getz today ruled that the 16-year-old youth who is accused of fatally stabbing John Tyler High School teacher Todd Henry in September is competent to stand trial.

Henry, a special education teacher, was stabbed in the neck and chest inside of his classroom on Sept. 23, allegedly by the youth who is in custody at the Smith County Juvenile Attention Center.

Defense Attorney Jim Huggler said he filed the motion to determine competency on the day the youth was arrested in the stabbing, after spending six hours speaking with him.

“I have spent about 30 hours with him since then,” Huggler told the judge, "and most of his answers are monosyllabic, and he doesn’t understand or remember our conversations.”

In a recent meeting with the youth, Huggler said he commented on the color of the orange jumpsuit the youth was wearing, telling him it was a nice orange color.

“About 15 minutes later, I told him I thought he was wearing a nice red shirt, and he agreed with me that it was red.”

Huggler said his client does not comprehend information, adding that he does not know why Judge Getz waited until Monday to issue the competency ruling. He said that his client had been in the custody of the Texas Youth Commission, which diagnosed the youth with schizophrenia in 2007 or 2008 for other issues which he did not name. The TYC sought and got a civil commitment for the youth to Terrell State Hospital in May. Huggler said the youth returned from the hospital and was back with the TYC in June.

Huggler said he had requested documents from the TYC for the hearing repeatedly, but had never received them.

Smith County Assistant District Attorney Taylor Heaton read from documents provided by Terrell State Hospital from May, which stated that the youth’s mental status was “alert and oriented, and his thought process seems goal-directed.”

Judge Getz, who took some time before the hearing to read the documents from the hospital, said that the records showed some manipulative behavior on the part of the youth.

“What you’re telling me is not consistent with what I am reading,” said Getz.

Latest on Byron Truvia

2009-10-30T20:10:00.000-07:00

From the Tyler Paper:
Detention Hearing Set For John Tyler Student
By DAYNA WORCHEL
Staff Writer

There will be another detention hearing at 8:30 a.m. on Monday morning for the juvenile accused in the stabbing death of John Tyler High School Teacher Todd Henry on Sept. 23. The hearing will take place at the Smith County Juvenile Attention Center in Judge Floyd Getz's courtroom. The youth, who is 16, has been held at the center since the stabbing.

The defendant, a special education student, allegedly fatally stabbed Henry, 52, in the neck and in the chest before class started that morning in his classroom. Randy Reid, Tyler Independent School District Superintendent, said at the time the attack was entirely unprovoked.

It is not known if the state of Texas has filed a formal petition charging the defendant with the crime of murder. The state had until Oct. 22 to do so, Defense Attorney Jim Huggler said earlier this month.

Smith County Assistant District Attorney Taylor Heaton declined comment, and phone calls placed to Huggler's office were not immediately returned.

The defendant signed a waiver to waive two detention hearings which had been scheduled for Oct. 5 and Oct. 19. Huggler said on Oct. 5 that the decision was "the best one for his client."

Human Rights at Home: Mental Illness in U.S. Prisons and Jails

2009-10-25T09:18:00.000-07:00

Issues surrounding inmates with mental illness are discussed. This website provides access to a webcast (archived) of the hearing, Subcommittee member statements, and witness testimony.

TCA MidWinter Conference

2009-10-24T18:47:00.000-07:00

http://www.txcorrections.org/PDF/2009_TCA_MidWinter_Program.pdf

Dallas News Reports on Byron Truvia (and the TYC response to "psych" discharges)

2009-10-19T16:50:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to a press release on Truvia's uncle who killed his mother (Truvia's grandmother).
Student held in Tyler teacher's stabbing had long history of mental illness

01:03 AM CDT on Sunday, October 18, 2009

By LEE HANCOCK / The Dallas Morning News
lhancock@dallasnews.com

TYLER – Todd Henry's phone call was chilling, Mitch Shamburger would later recall. His friend had an instinct for trouble.

A bear of a man, Henry had worked in prisons and now taught kids with behavioral issues at John Tyler High School. He was seldom rattled. Yet Shamburger, a Smith County justice of the peace, could hear the worry in his friend's voice.
Also Online

TYC defends release procedures

Download: Byron's TYC discharge certification

Download: TYC case plan for Byron

Henry described a student in his special-education class with a menacing vibe. The student was a "Katrina kid" – shorthand for New Orleans transplants blown into Tyler by Hurricane Katrina.

"This kid – he's got serious problems," Henry told Shamburger. "If somebody doesn't do something, soon, this kid is going to kill somebody."

The JP recalls advising his friend to document his concerns and alert his bosses. Henry said he already had.

Days later, on the morning of Sept. 23, Todd Henry, who was 50, lay bleeding to death in classroom A23 of John Tyler High. In the hallway outside, a wraith of a boy named Byron was hustled away to face charges of stabbing his teacher in the heart with a butcher knife. A Texas Education Agency spokesman says it is the first teacher slaying in a Texas classroom that anyone in the agency can recall.

Smith County prosecutors are considering whether to ask to try the 16-year-old as an adult. He's being held as a juvenile, so his court files are sealed. The Dallas Morning News is not using Byron's family name because the newspaper generally does not publish names of juvenile defendants.

Troubling descent

Records and information from Byron's family and others familiar with him, from public sources and from people close to the ongoing murder investigation, offer a portrait of a long spiral into mental illness and violence. Byron's lawyer and others say the case spotlights deficiencies in how Texas handles its most disturbed and violent juvenile offenders.

Byron's mother says her youngest son was first diagnosed with problems in kindergarten. By 12, she says, Byron had been in mental hospitals in Texas and Louisiana. At 14, he was in a Smith County juvenile lockup and then in a Texas juvenile prison for stabbing his sister with a steak knife.

TYC often held him in isolation and at one point sent him to a state mental hospital. He was diagnosed schizophrenic and psychotic and transferred to the state's most acute mental health facility for juvenile offenders. Last July, the agency declared Byron too disturbed for reform school. TYC sent Byron home to his mother without parole or treatment plans, according to records the family released to The News.

In mid-August, Byron was arrested again for marijuana possession and Tyler police tried to return him to jail. He was released to his mother because Smith County's juvenile detention center refused to take him back, according to a police report.

Even Byron's mother says he shouldn't have been in Henry's classroom. He sees and hears things other people don't, she says, and he needs help. Henry was a caring teacher, she says, and Byron regrets "what all he did. He said, 'Mom, just tell everybody that I'm sorry.' "

A life coming together

By all accounts, Todd Henry's life was coming together as Byron's imploded.

Henry was a teenager when his family moved to Huntsville from Chicago. Henry's oldest brother, Jody, says he found his identity playing guitar.

After college and out-of-state interludes, Henry came home to live with his mother after his father died. He had music and psychology degrees and certification as a music therapist, so he took a state prison job. He worked longest at the Skyview psychiatric unit in Rusk.

Friends and family say Henry grooved on using music to connect with prisoners others labeled unreachable. But he wearied of work behind bars. "He started to feel like he was in prison," Jody Henry says.

Equally adept at jazz, country and rock guitar, Henry was in demand as a side man with bands across East Texas. He decided to quit his prison job and focus on music until something better appeared.

It did in 2003. He started teaching special education and took a job in 2005 at John Tyler High. There, he taught kids with behavioral issues, assisted by a teacher's aide. "He absolutely loved it," his brother says. "This was what he was meant to do."

He was 6 feet tall and 300-plus pounds, his bald head offset by owlish glasses and a beard. Colleagues say he was easygoing yet firm. "Just do what you do," read his MySpace motto, "and don't sweat the small stuff."

His wife, Jan, says he wanted to help kids who often felt marginalized get fully involved in school. The two worked together in his first special-education teaching post and married last November.

In prison work, she recalls him saying, too many people were beyond reach. As a teacher, he'd say, "I can start earlier. I can make a difference."

Early problems

Byron came up poor and hard in New Orleans, the third of four kids to a single mother. The state of Louisiana had to take his father to court to acknowledge paternity and pay child support.

He grew up in the same Central City neighborhood where his mother did. There, she was once attacked badly enough to need hospitalization while walking her first baby past a neighborhood housing project, court records indicate.

His mother joined the National Guard and went on welfare. She worked as a cashier and sitter and sometimes struggled, she recalls.

Byron was born two months premature. His mother says her baby boy was a quiet child who shadowed his big brother. He loved Popeye cartoons and liked to draw fish and people, cars and trucks.

Then he started kindergarten, and teachers said Byron was incommunicative and hyperactive.

By the age of 7, he was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and prescribed Ritalin. Though that calmed him "a little bit," his mother says, there were soon more problems and doctors and psychiatric drugs.

"None of 'em really helped," Byron's mother says. "All they wanted to do is give him medication."

In the summer of 2005, his mother says, Byron ended up in New Orleans' public mental hospital for children and teens.

She recalls that Byron had been hospitalized a month as Hurricane Katrina neared New Orleans. He was evacuated with other patients. His mother says she and other family waded through neck-deep water to take shelter at the high school she'd attended. There, they waited days for a helicopter rescue.

They expected to land in Houston. A bus took them to Tyler, a town they'd never heard of.

Family violence

A church guided Byron's mother to a food-service job and an apartment. Still, she says, the family's adjustment was tough. She called 911 to complain about local kids wanting to fight her children, Tyler police records indicate. There were disturbance calls. Eventually, most of the family had misdemeanor records.

Byron didn't join them in Tyler, his mother says, until 2006. After Katrina, she says, he was sent to a facility in Corpus Christi and treated for "five or six months." Byron enrolled in the Tyler schools that March, records show.

By Christmas 2006, Byron was arrested for breaking into a Mazda Miata at the Tyler mall.

Byron's maternal grandmother and youngest uncle settled in Dallas. The uncle struggled with mental illness and went back to New Orleans. In early April 2007, the grandmother rode a bus to Louisiana to check on him.

Her battered body was discovered in the uncle's FEMA trailer over Easter weekend, with her tongue nearly ripped out. Despite a psychiatrist's testimony that the uncle was schizophrenic, a New Orleans jury rejected an insanity plea and sent him to prison for life.

Byron took his grandmother's death hard, his mother says.

Weeks after the funeral, Byron's mother called 911 to say her son was "acting crazy" and wouldn't take his psychiatric medication. Officers who came to her apartment watched him take the drugs.

On June 2, Byron attacked his 17-year-old sister. Byron's sister told police that Byron complained she took too long at a bathroom mirror and stabbed her in the back with a steak knife as she combed her hair.

Once arrested, Byron gave police his brother's name and birth date. Officers had to call Byron's mother to confirm who he was. A police report states that Byron then said he'd "forgotten to take his medicine, which he takes to keep from acting out."

Byron spent months in the county's juvenile lockup. He got in trouble for sucker-punching other inmates. Asked why, he'd say be didn't like how they looked at him.

Byron's mother says that the court-appointed lawyer in the sister's stabbing case tried to get Byron sent to a mental hospital. In October 2007, Byron was sentenced to the Texas Youth Commission. His mother recalls being told he might be in juvenile prison until he turned 19.

Last March, Byron was moved to the Corsicana "stabilization unit" for TYC's most disturbed and dangerous offenders. In May, he was still so unstable that he was committed to Terrell State Hospital for 22 days.

In July, TYC gave Byron's mother a new care plan. Byron had diagnoses of conduct disorder, schizophrenia, psychosis and probable mental retardation. He read below the third-grade level and had math skills of a child midway through second grade. "No college in this young man's near future," his TYC caseworker wrote.

Home care

The case plan had a single answer for how Byron and his family would get help after he left TYC: "Youth will go home to his mother."

The bottom line: Byron was getting a mental-illness discharge.

On July 19, Byron was released. TYC workers gave his mother a 30-day supply of an antipsychotic drug and a form letter urging her to make Byron take the medicine. Byron got a certificate saying he had no further legal obligation to TYC – a release without parole.

"We hope you will use the skills you learned to make good decisions and have a positive impact on your community," the certificate said. "The entire Texas Youth Commission Family wishes you success in your future endeavors."

The next day, Byron's mother took him to a Tyler mental health clinic. She wrote on an intake form that her son had mental problems, hallucinated and used "weed" and cocaine. "My son need help," she wrote in shaky letters.

At home, she says, Byron hung out with his brother. He watched movies, and she drove him to the park.

Police called her in mid-August to say they'd arrested Byron for walking down a street smoking "a blunt" of marijuana. They said she needed to come get him.

"I said, 'You saw how he was acting, and you want me to come get him?' " she recalls. "They said, 'This is your child, isn't he?' "

Three days later, Byron began ninth grade at John Tyler High.

Concerns in class

Todd Henry had a slow start to the school year. Beginning on Aug. 19, he took two weeks off to recuperate from shoulder surgery. He had been injured in a hallway scuffle the previous year.

On Sept. 8, Henry returned to school. Days later, he called his friend and weekend band mate, Mitch Shamburger, to say he was worried about the new kid in his class. Shamburger says he phoned the county juvenile justice center. He recalls asking about Byron and getting a vague response.

The week of Sept. 15, Byron's mother says, a neighbor flagged her down on her way home from her morning work shift. The neighbor said she'd just seen Byron angry in the yard. The mother found Byron brooding in their North Tyler rental house, unwilling to talk.

That evening, Henry called. Byron's mother says the teacher explained that Byron had gotten angry and had run away from class. "He just wanted to know that Byron made it home," Byron's mother recalls. "He was very nice."

On Sept. 17, a John Tyler special-ed official sent seven school staffers an e-mail about Byron. She said that Henry had recommended an escort for Byron to and from every class. "It has also been observed that Byron is very sensitive to anyone getting physically near him or touching him," the e-mail said. "Please try to get his attention without physical contact."

By all accounts, the morning of Sept. 23 began normally. Byron donned a red polo and jeans and white Air Nikes. He shouldered a dark backpack and boarded his school bus in North Tyler.

Witnesses said that Byron went to John Tyler High's cafeteria as usual with his teacher's aide and the other student in his class. As they got breakfast, other students scuffled. Once they were back in classroom A-23, another teacher asked Henry to counsel a student about the cafeteria incident.

At his desk, Henry spoke quietly with the visiting student. Byron read aloud to the teacher's aide. The second student in the class worked alone. The aide corrected Byron's pronunciation and praised his effort. Then he told Byron he could return to his desk and read a book he liked, about football.

Witnesses said that Byron passed his desk and kept walking toward Henry. Without a word, he pulled a knife from his clothes and swung it.

When Byron pulled back his hand, the aide could see the knife's eight-inch blade covered in blood. Henry slumped in his chair. A dark red circle spread across his green shirt.

Byron moved toward the aide. The aide grabbed his laptop and swung it, screaming, "Get out!" Byron dropped the knife and the aide jumped him.

School district police officers chatting in the hall just outside the classroom turned toward the commotion. The classroom door flew open. The teacher's aide rushed out, restraining Byron in a bear hug. He yelled that a teacher had been stabbed.

Several officers grabbed the student, who had bloody hands. Others ran in the classroom and saw Henry motionless on the floor between his desk and the chalkboard.

Frantic school nurses and coaches administered CPR and tried using a defibrillator. Henry was declared dead at a Tyler hospital. His wife Jan says she believes he died instantly because the stab wound punctured his heart.

Aftermath

Immediately after the attack, Tyler school officials announced the purchase of portable metal detectors and a security review.

Friends and family, colleagues and students crowded a memorial service for Henry. Mitch Shamburger gave the eulogy. Musicians that Henry had played with every weekend for decades held jam sessions to raise money for a music scholarship in Henry's name.

At one prayer service, a woman handed Jan Henry a carefully typed note. The woman explained that it was from her son, the other student in Henry's class.

"God will judge Mr. Henry and I believe He will say Mr. Henry was the best teacher ever," the note read. "He taught me to do things in a routine. He taught me how to write in cursive. He taught me how to spell words. He taught me how to read better. He was trying to teach me how to cope. Out of all my teachers, he was the best one, because he was always fair with me."

In early October, Byron smiled as he shuffled into a public detention hearing. He wore arm restraints and appeared thin in his oversized orange jumpsuit. He answered the judge's questions softly. He was still smiling, scanning the courtroom with puffy eyes, as he was sent back to an isolation cell.

Byron's court-appointed lawyer, James Huggler told the judge that his client needs a mental evaluation – the first step in an insanity defense.

"I'm absolutely amazed that he was released from TYC, given his mental state and the fact that he was apparently kept in isolation with no effective treatment and no effective after-care program for his return home," Huggler says. "Byron needs treatment."

Tyler School superintendent Randy Reid says colleagues have called him from across Texas to offer condolences. He says they've told him that the attack was every superintendent's worst nightmare because it could happen anywhere.

He says he can't discuss the student involved because of privacy law. He and other educators worry that schools don't get adequate information when TYC releases offenders. Public school systems must take everyone, he adds, but some kids have issues that schools can't address.

"We're putting people in a position where they aren't equipped," he says.

Though a review of the attack is ongoing, Reid says, he believes staff acted appropriately. "It's an incredible tragedy that we're going to be living with forever."

A TYC spokesman declined to answer questions about Byron, citing privacy laws.

Texas Youth Commission defends release procedures for offenders it can't help

12:06 AM CDT on Sunday, October 18, 2009

By LEE HANCOCK / The Dallas Morning News
lhancock@dallasnews.com

Texas Youth Commission officials say state law requires the release of juvenile offenders who are too mentally challenged or disturbed to make progress in its programs. Those offenders are released after completing a minimum stay, determined by the seriousness of their offenses and disciplinary records.

The agency has had 206 mental health discharges since fall 2005 – 19 since October 2008.

An agency spokesman says TYC coordinates mental illness discharges with local officials to ensure adequate re-entry plans. A new law that took effect in September is aimed at ensuring adequate community mental health treatment for all former TYC inmates.

That law is among the latest TYC reform measures. TYC was rocked by scandal in 2007 when The Dallas Morning News began exposing widespread inmate abuse and other systemic agency problems.

A recent Texas Sunset Commission report slammed TYC's handling of all discharges. The report noted that discharge rules for offenders who fail to progress "may prevent the most troubled youth from receiving treatment."

The July report also criticized a lack of information sharing with local authorities before most offenders were released. Offenders weren't being prepared for going home, and TYC failed to use valid risk assessments to ensure their readiness, the report stated.

Agency spokesman Jim Hurley said TYC has addressed shortcomings. Staffers start planning for release when offenders arrive at TYC facilities. "We're working with their parents. We're working with the community" he says. "We want to be sure there are wraparound services available for that particular youth, to give them the greatest chance for success."

Teacher Worried For Student Held In Killing

2009-10-19T10:12:00.000-07:00

From the Tyler Morning Telegraph:
A Tyler teacher, who was the victim of a fatal stabbing in his classroom, called a friend days before the attack saying he feared that the teenager who is now being held in his death was capable of killing.

Special education teacher Todd Henry, 50, had told his friend, Mitch Shamburger, a Smith County justice of the peace, during a chilling phone call that he was concerned about a “Katrina kid” — so named because he had survived Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

“This kid — he’s got serious problems,” Henry told Shamburger. “If somebody doesn’t do something, soon, this kid is going to kill somebody.”

Shamburger recalls advising his friend to document his concerns and alert his bosses. Henry said he already had.

Henry died a few days later on Sept. 23 after he was stabbed in the heart in a classroom at John Tyler High School. Authorities are holding one of his students for the murder. A Texas Education Agency spokesman says it was the first teacher slaying in a Texas classroom that anyone in the agency can recall.

The 16-year-old suspect had a history of mental illness and had been accused of other violent acts, The Dallas Morning News reported Sunday, based on public sources and people close to the murder investigation.

Smith County prosecutors are considering whether to try the youth as an adult. He is being held in the Smith County Juvenile Attention Center, and will have his next detention hearing on Nov. 2.

The youth’s mother said that by age 12, he had been in mental hospitals in Texas and Louisiana. At 14, he was in a Smith County juvenile lockup and then in a Texas
juvenile prison for stabbing his sister with a steak knife.

He was often placed in isolation while being held in a Texas Youth Commission facility and was sent to a state mental hospital. He was diagnosed schizophrenic and psychotic and transferred to the state’s most acute mental health facility for juvenile offenders. Last July, the agency declared him too disturbed for reform school. The commission sent him home to his mother without parole or treatment plans, according to records the family released to the newspaper.

His mother told the newspaper he should never have been in Henry’s classroom and that he sees and hears things other people don’t.

She described Henry as a caring teacher, and said her son regretted everything. “He said, ‘Mom, just tell everybody that I’m sorry.’”

New Re-Entry Resource

2009-10-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

CSG Justice Center Launches National Reentry Resource Center

New York—The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center announced today its launch of the National Reentry Resource Center—an unprecedented initiative to advance the safe and successful return of individuals from prisons and jails to their communities. Among those served by the resource center will be states, tribes, territories, local governments, service providers, nonprofit organizations and adult and juvenile corrections institutions.

The CSG Justice Center was selected through a competitive grant process by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice, to develop and direct the resource center in collaboration with the Urban Institute, American Probation and Parole Association, Association of State Correctional Administrators, and the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University, and an advisory board of 25 national organizations serving the reentry field. Authorized by the Second Chance Act of 2007 (P. L. 110-199), the resource center will provide communities across the country with the best thinking on complex reentry issues, comprehensive resources and myriad forms of support that can help reduce recidivism and strengthen neighborhoods and families. It will provide needed training and technical assistance to Second Chance Act grant recipients and provide a single point of contact for the many individuals and organizations that are committed to reentry issues.

“There are 2.3 million people serving time in our federal and state prisons, and millions of people cycling through local jails every year. Ninety-five percent of all prisoners will eventually be released to our communities and we all have a stake in making sure they are successful,” said New York Assemblyman and Justice Center board chairman Jeffrion Aubry. “The Justice Center is pleased to continue its work with all key stakeholders through the National Reentry Resource Center to develop data-driven, consensus-based reentry policies that reduce criminal activity and best use taxpayer dollars.”

The National Reentry Resource Center will continue the CSG Justice Center's commitment to collaboration and will draw on the experience and expertise of its many valued partner organizations, as well as its own work in the field. Among CSG's past contributions is the 2005 landmark report of its Reentry Policy Council—the result of work by 100 of the most respected workforce, health, housing, public safety, family, community, and victim experts in the country. The Justice Center has also made available to the field online tools, a range of publications on prisoner reentry, a newsletter with the latest news and information, and research and resources that guide policy reform and innovative practices.

For more information, visit the resource center's Website at www.nationalreentryresourcecenter.org, where reentry research, publications and tools will be continually added and updated. To learn more about the Second Chance Act grants, see the U.S. Justice Department release at http://www.ojp.gov/newsroom/newsroom.htm.

John Tyler Administrator Talks Candidly About Truvia

2009-09-29T19:05:00.000-07:00

From the Mt. Pleasant Daily Tribune:

By MARCIA DAVIS-SEALE - Tribune Staff Writer
Saturday, September 26, 2009 12:42 PM CDT

About 8:50 last Wednesday morning John Tyler High School (JTHS) Assistant Principal Winston McCowan, Jr. - a Mount Pleasant native - would respond to a disturbance he heard in a classroom two doors down from his office, pass a student he'd spoken with a few minutes earlier being led down the hall in handcuffs by security guards, and find one of his teachers, stabbed and unconscious on the floor. In a phone interview Friday, McCowan told the Tribune, that Wednesday would be a day he'll probably never forget.

He said he calmed the student - that other media reports have named as 16-year-old Byron Truvia - in the school cafeteria, about 30 minutes before the student reportedly stabbed Todd Henry in the chest with a kitchen knife, piercing the special education teacher's heart.

McCowan said he believes that schools should monitor more closely student histories and tendencies. He said that JTHS had no knowledge of the violent family background of the student charged with stabbing the teacher to death, and if they had, perhaps they would have managed his situation differently.

"You never know! With No Child Left Behind laws, you must provide all students free and appropriate public education in the Least Restrictive Environment."

A specialist in the realm of special education, the young - but lauded - administrator, who comes from a family of professional educators, said that in this situation he feels his biggest contribution has been to provide a supportive calm presence during the chaos.
As the administrator in charge of working with and evaluating the JTHS special education teachers, McCowan said he talked with Henry often. "He never talked about being afraid or threatened by the students. He worked in the prison system for 10 years before coming here. He was always seeking to help students."

But that day, the teacher lay silent, unable to help student or self.

That morning on his way down the hall, McCowan said he heard a teacher's aide scream out the words, "Oh, my God, he stabbed him!"
The commotion was coming from the adaptive behavioral class where Henry and a teacher's aide worked with Truvia and two other students.

It's a class, McCowan said, "for students who need to work on social skills. It's more of a structured one-on-one for students that really can't make it in the regular classroom."

The school administrator said he yelled for the school nurses, and for someone to call 911. "And they [the school nurses] began to work on him [Henry] doing CPR."

The two students were escorted out of the classroom and paramedics and firefighters crowded in.

McCowan said he remembers that when the ambulance came, he helped bring in some of the paramedics' equipment.

The school was locked down, following a crisis plan that no one ever really counted on having to use. "Things were very orderly-no students in the halls-only the required personnel in the hallways as in the crisis plan.

"The crisis team secured the parameters, we had police backups, made the required communications with school and administration, and all the proper procedures were in place."

But this was not a drill, a teacher was dying or dead, a student's future hung in the balance, and no one on campus that day would walk away the same.

McCowan said no one knew Henry's condition when the ambulance left with him. The assistant principal said he saw the paramedics were still working on the teacher as they hauled the stretcher carrying his body down the hall and into the ambulance.

"The Tyler police came in, roped everything off as a crime scene, and we closed the school down, put out messages to the parents, called transportation - the buses, and released our students at 10:45. By 11:45 the campus was clear, and we began debriefing meetings with central administration."

Just a few minutes before that class began, McCowan said, "We had a small disturbance in the cafeteria. He [Byron Truvia] was standing up against the wall. I knew he didn't like a lot of disturbance, and I told him to get out of the way if they [the other students causing the disturbance] came toward him. I wanted to calm him.

"He seemed fine. He always kept to himself. There were no warning signs."

In the days following the stabbing, McCowan said, students and staff had been leaving notes and flowers on a memorial mural, of sorts, on the classroom door. Attendance is back to normal. One of the students, who was in the classroom at the time of the stabbing returned to class on Friday, according to McCowan.

"The other student was pretty rattled, and hasn't come back," he said.

"We've offered counseling for all the students with the school psychologist. All the counselors in the district are here to help, with extra school resource officers and central staff administration. We went classroom to classroom yesterday offering support.

"We always have security on site, and we brought in extra police officers and extra monitors. I don't know how long we will have them. The superintendent just told us we would have them ‘for the foreseeable future.'"

"It was a learning experience - for all of us - puts everything in to perspective as a reminder of how precious life is. It could have been any one of us. I was beside that student a few minutes earlier. I didn't see any signs of a weapon on him. He had on blue jeans and an orange shirt. I guess the knife was in his pockets.

"We never had any recollection that he was previously violent. Now we know he moved here after Katrina. He did have a troubling home life, threatened his sister with a knife, and his mom's brother killed her mom [Truvia's grandmother]."

"I believe school systems as a whole need to monitor more closely the background and tendencies of students with emotional disturbances, and also the family histories as well."

He said that he feels it's critical that students be placed appropriately. "In every school district some students fall through the cracks, [in terms of] their disability and the appropriate placement.

"We never want to put them at a disadvantage either way. But if they can't function in a normal school setting, we should put them somewhere they can function."

McCowan said he wasn't aware of a culture of violence at the high school. "Any school is going to have challenges. I don't see this any different from the schools across town. We cater to a different area than they do and have some of those students coming from difficult families and environments.

"This particular incident was a random act of violence that was unprovoked, and was without warning."

McCowan comes from a family of educators. His mother, LaWanda McCowan, serves as principal of the local Corprew Elementary School. His dad, Dr. Winston McCowan, Sr., is a professor at North Texas Community College, and his two sisters both teach in the Dallas area.

This school year marks his first year as assistant principal at John Tyler, in charge of the discipline of 460 students (with last names E through L) of the 2100 students at the school.

McCowan was named Assistant Principal of the Year by the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals, Region VII, 2009-2010. He served as assistant principal of Palestine High School last year, and before that, spent seven years working with students with special needs in the Texas public school system.

He said at the moment he is drawing on his family support and his faith to cope. "My wife is concerned and supportive. My children, ages two and seven months are too young to understand. My family calls or texts every day offering their support and their prayers.

"It's not every day you see something like that. There are moments my mind replays the whole scene…surreal…like a movie.

"Always running through a lot of our minds, ever since the incident, is the question of whether we could have done anything different. It's the kind of thing that makes you wonder, ‘What could I have done?…probably for the rest of your life."

Truvia's Sister Talks About His Past

2009-09-29T18:56:00.000-07:00

From kltv.com
TYLER, TX (KLTV) - Sixteen-year-old Byron Truvia is accused of the stabbing murder of John Tyler teacher, Todd Henry. Byron's family is telling the public he is not a monster and suffers from mental conditions. They also say their hearts go out to Todd Henry's family.

Byron Truvia and his family evacuated from New Orleans, when Hurricane Katrina hit.

"They got flooded out and they moved here," said Shirley Williams, who lived by the Truvias.

Ever since they arrived Byron's sister Geniece says their lives have been devastated.

"My grandmother, she got killed in 2007," said Geniece. "My uncle murdered her and so it's just a lot of things been going on the past four years."

Shirley says Denise, Byron and Geniece's mom, is still mourning the loss of her mother.

"Her brother killed her mom," said Shirley. "He just snapped and the mother surprised him, flew in and surprised him Easter and went to his house, his trailer, came in and he beat her to death."

Denise did not want to talk on camera, but Byron's sister says he suffers from some mental conditions.

"He has a little problem as far as depression and anxiety," said Geniece.

She says Byron had just served two years for allegedly beating their other sister, but she can't believe he could commit murder.

"He wouldn't do nothing like that," said Geniece. "Because...Byron he come home, he eat...he lay down, watch TV, do his homework [and] that's it. You know, he ain't never killed nobody, you know. I just don't understand."

Geniece says her brother had gotten into some fights at school but made good grades and liked sports. She says just like the victim's family, they too are grieving.

"He's very smart [and] intelligent," she said. "He goes to church and everything, and I just want to say that my heart goes out to the Henry family and I'm real devastated about the situation. I'm hurt as well as them."

Byron's mother, Denise, said the only one that can help them now is God, and they are praying for strength through this ordeal.

Still Undecided if Byron Truvia will be Certified as an Adult

2009-09-29T18:52:00.000-07:00

From kltv.com
By Philippe Djegal
9/29/09
TYLER, TX (KLTV) - The stabbing death of John Tyler teacher Todd Henry last week wasn't the only murder committed by a teenager to rock a community.

Last Thursday, a 16-year-old high school student in Chicago was beaten to death while on his way home from school. Four of the suspects are now in custody, one of which is also 16 years old.

The DA says he will be prosecuted as an adult. But, the jury is still out here in Texas on whether 16-year-old Byron Truvia will be tried as an adult.

Authorities say Derrion Albert was an "innocent bystander," caught up in a street fight between rival teens.

The gruesome images of his murder were caught on tape and depict his head being slammed with a two by four and him being stomped on while lying unconscious on the ground.

The DA in that case says one of the suspects, a 16-year-old, will be tried as an adult.

That's because according to the Illinois state legislature, all 15- or 16-year-olds charged with murder are by law required to be tried as an adult. In Texas, the law is less straight forward.

"Was it pre-mediated?" asked Laurie Ann Frank. "I think there's a lot of questions."

Questions that attorney in juvenile law Jennifer Deen says will take some time to sort out.

"In Texas, a 14-year-old could be certified," said Deen.

Meaning, in the case of Byron Truvia, the juvenile court will examine Truvia's family history, mental state and other factors to determine whether or not his case be transferred to criminal court.

"But, only for first degree felony, capital felony and aggravated controlled substance felony," said Deen. "And, then at age 15 any child can be certified on any other felony charge."

If tried in juvenile court, Truvia could face anywhere from probation to a life sentence, leaving open the possibility of once again living outside of a jail cell.

"The penal system is very different from juveniles as it is for adults, which juveniles it's focused on treatment, rehabilitation and counseling," explained Frank.

As an adult, he is most likely looking at life behind bars. However...

"He will never be eligible for the death penalty," said Deen. "He could only get life imprisonment if he is transferred to the adult court."

The DA's office still has about three weeks to file a petition official letting the court know what charges they will bring on Byron Truvia which will determine whether he'll be tried as a juvenile or adult.

SB 1557 Clarification from Dee Wilson

2009-09-22T20:05:00.000-07:00

A reader forwarded an email to me originally transmitted by Lee Johnson of the Texas Council of Community MHMR Centers:

As many of you are aware, April Zamora of TCOOMMI gave a presentation at the Behavioral Health Consortium Thursday, September 10, 2009 on the changes brought to Art.16.22, Code of Criminal Procedure.

She affirmed that Art. 16.22 has been in statute since 1994 as a tool for identifying and beginning treatment for an alleged offender with mental illness who has been jailed following arrest. The article requires a sheriff to provide notice to a magistrate within 72 hours of receiving evidence that an offender has a mental illness. If there is reasonable cause to believe that the defendant has a mental illness, the magistrate orders the local mental health authority to collect information to determine if a mental illness exist.

In an attempt to improve the screening in the jails, as required by Art. 16.22, the Texas Legislature passed SB 1009, Sunset legislation for the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS), which contained an amendment requiring TCJS to develop a set of risk factors to use in assessing the overall risk level of each jail. Among the 9 risk factors is whether the jail is in compliance with Art. 16.22.

Attached, please find a bulletin by Dee Wilson of TCOOMMI for the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. As Dee points out, the current process for conducting mental health and competency assessments have not been changed but does put in plain language a process for collecting that information and passing it along.

Here is the attachment.

Leveling the Playing Field: Practical Strategies for Increasing Veteran's Involvement in Diversion and Reentry Programs

2009-09-22T13:16:00.000-07:00

Download the pdf.
Challenges facing the involvement of veterans in jail diversion and prison reentry programs and strategies to address these problems are explained. Sections of this report are: introduction; financial disparities; eligibility and access; experiential disparities and preparedness; practical steps -- five practical steps, three access and eligibility steps, five experiential and preparedness steps; and conclusion.

DSM-IV-TR ON TRIAL

2009-09-21T15:52:00.000-07:00

Is the DSM-IV-TR on trial or are repressed memories?
Watch the video from Massachusetts Supreme Court here.
Criminal; Evidence-- Various issues arising out of a conviction for sexual abuse of a child, including the admissibility of "repressed memory" evidence.

2009 Crisis Redesign Survey by Texas A&M

2009-09-21T15:07:00.000-07:00

This is a reminder to participate in the 2009 Crisis Mental Health Survey by Monday, October 5th. This survey is anonymous, so if you have already replied to the survey, please disregard this reminder!
______________________

Hello:

Law enforcement agencies, emergency room personnel, courts, mental health providers, and communities often find it challenging help people in mental health crisis. The 2006 “Crisis Service Redesign” report from the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) observed:

The systems for responding to mental health crises in Texas are uniformly inadequate to meet community needs. Other systems called on to serve as alternative sources of help, such as law enforcement, jails, emergency rooms of general hospitals, and social services, are not appropriate, cost effective, or able to provide the level and type of services that people in mental health crises need in order to recover.

To address these problems, in 2007, DSHS was awarded $82.0 million from the Texas Legislature to redesign the community mental health crisis system. Researchers from Texas A&M University are evaluating the effects the Crisis Services Redesign (CSR) initiative has had on communities around the state. This evaluation will provide important feedback to DSHS and to the legislature about the success of CSR.

We are asking you to participate in a survey about crisis services in your community. You were selected for participation in this survey because of your important role in assisting individuals experiencing a mental health crisis in your community. This survey is your chance to say how you think CSR is working in your community.

Please feel free to forward this survey to others in your organization who are knowledgeable about mental health crisis services.

In the next week, we will be distributing this survey through other means, such as organizational list serves. If you receive another request to participate in this study, please disregard that e-mail and use the link found at the bottom of this e-mail.

If you are willing to participate, please click on the link at the bottom of this e-mail to be directed to additional information about the survey and the survey itself. If you have any questions about the study, please do not hesitate to contact the primary investigator for the evaluation, Dr. Dottie Carmichael (979-845-9378; dottie@ppri.tamu.edu).

Thank you in advance for your assistance,

Dottie Carmichael

Texas A&M University

To participate click the link below:

http://csr.tamu.edu/dshs.htm

(if the link does not work, copy and paste this link into the address bar of your browser)

Updated Texas Mental Health Code

2009-09-21T14:35:00.000-07:00

17th Edition
Texas Laws
Relating to Mental Health
Reflecting changes in law passed by the
81st Legislature, Regular Session – 2009*
Throughout this book will be various statutory references to the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse and the Texas Department of Health. On September 1, 2004 these three agencies were combined to form the Department of State Health Services. Any reference in statue to the legacy agencies should be read to mean the Department of State Health Services.
Disclaimer – The information contained in this book does not constitute the provision of legal advice. While every attempt has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this book, the Department of State Health Services, its officers and employees disclaim any responsibility for any errors in content or formatting that may be contained herein.
*Most changes in law reflected in this book become effective on 9/1/09.

Mentally Ill in US Prisons and Jails

2009-09-17T20:25:00.000-07:00

Part one

Part two

From English Aljazeera's Fault Lines

As the healthcare debate rages in the US, the fate of the hundreds of thousands of mentally ill people in American jails and prisons has been absent from the agenda.

In a special report Fault Lines' Josh Rushing visited detention facilities in Texas and discovered the true reality of how inmates with mental illness are treated.

Creating Flexibility from the Bench: Meeting the Needs of Juveniles with Mental Impairments

2009-09-16T20:23:00.000-07:00

Texas Appleseed released a new juvenile court resource in August 2009 that contains information on the impact of current laws and policies on Texas' young offender and an overview of alternative "front end" approaches proven to keep youth from repeatedly cycling through the juvenile justice system.

Creating Flexibility from the Bench: Meeting the Needs of Juveniles with Mental Impairments.

TCOOMMI and Henderson County

2009-09-16T18:37:00.000-07:00

From Athens Review:
County gets reprieve on mental health program

By Rich Flowers News Editor

September 15, 2009 08:33 pm

— Just when it seemed Henderson County was going to have to pay about $80 each for inmate mental evaluations, a state-funded program found new life.
Tuesday, the Henderson County Commissioners Court adopted a memorandum of understanding between the county and the Andrews Center which will enable the county to take advantage of the Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical and Mental Impairments program.
The program provides mental evaluations for non-crisis inmates who are not in imminent danger of attempting suicide or harming others.
Under the terms of the memorandum, equipment owned by TCOOMMI will be used by the jail to access mental health services from the Andrews Center for incarcerated offenders in custody there. The use of the telemedicine equipment is intended to allow better access to services, maintain public safety and decrease officer transport and wait time.
“This gives the TCOOMMI program the opportunity to screen them here,” Henderson County Mental Health Coordinator Kay Dingler said. “They will do it on a weekly basis, and probably see five to 10 people, depending on the time required on each one. It is state-funded, and we only have to provide the room.”
Henderson County pays Andrews Center $30,000 each year for help with the mentally-ill, mentally-challenged, chemically-dependent and mentally-disabled. The center offers screenings to determine if the individual is in need of emergency services, and provides the county with after-hour mental evaluation and commitment screenings.
TCOOMMI was created by the Texas Legislature in 1989 to “reduce the time of additional imprisonment, reduce recidivism and divert offenders with mental illness, mental retardation and severe medical impairments to appropriate treatments instead of incarceration.”
“TCOOMMI has had a renewed spirit of working with us over about the last 30 days,” Henderson County Judge David Holstein said.
Dingler said TCOOMMI had been set up as a pilot program, but due to its initial success, millions of dollars have been allocated to keep it running.

Excerpt from the Minutes of the 09/09 BHC Consortia

2009-09-14T19:49:00.000-07:00

TCOOMMI Rider 21; Contracts & 2010 Focus – April Zamora

April discussed TDCJ updates and recent changes in administration. She clarified that TCOOMMI is no longer a standalone division of TDCJ, but has been incorporated into another division. Dee Wilson has been promoted to Re-entry and Re-integration division. There will be “Re-entry councils” developed and information will go out as these are implemented.

April discussed TCOOMMI’s capacity as there have been some budget cuts in the past year. This resulted from trending analysis on caseloads that were not staying full, but COC services that were booming. Cuts in some areas were reinvested in other areas where the service demands were higher. TCOOMMI is moving toward a hybrid model of care focusing on high risk offenders. Multi Systemic Therapy programs at two centers were discontinued because outcomes were not any better than other programs. New contracts have come out and MH and Probation requirements are separate and care is now individualized rather than limited to 6 months.

She reported that TCOOMMI was not allocated any new funds, but were given several new mandates. TCOOMMI is now responsible for the “wrongfully imprisoned” program which covers all the needs (MH, physical health, etc) for individuals who are wrongfully imprisoned. Another unfunded mandate is 44.51 which involves release of 17-19 y/o TYC offenders who have special needs and requires TCOOMMI to serve them. In adult services TCOOMMI is piloting transitional caseloads of 50-75 to facilitate the transition into regular RDM services.

April discussed Article 16.22 and SB1557 and clarified that the current processes in place for assessment of individuals jailed who have MH needs may continue. Any assessment which is less than a year old may be used. The intent was not to require MHAs to conduct competency assessments on all MH offenders in jails. TCOOMMI will be sending a letter to Texas Council which explains the intent of the law and which can be used to educate law enforcement. April noted that the intent is only to make sure the magistrate is aware of the individual’s possible MH involvement and may include self-report by the offender, prior MHA involvement, or jail CARE cross matching. It does not require an assessment. Once the magistrate is aware of the possible MH involvement he/she may order a full assessment at the expense of the county. Joe Lovelace reported that the Texas Council will be convening a workgroup to address concerns around this issue.

April reported that there are upcoming training opportunities including the Texas Correctional Association conference. She encouraged MHAs to send people to this conference.

April discussed Rider 21 which provides new funding and requires TJPC to contract with MHAs if they want to provide MH services in order to divert kids from TYC. She explained that many areas are not applying for the funds due to fear of having to return part of the funds if outcomes are not met. She reported that so far only 4 areas have submitted applications, but she is continuing to work on encouraging TJPC programs to include MH services in their grants.

Medicaid Substance Abuse Expansion – Matt Ferrara

Matt discussed comprehensive Medicaid substance abuse services legislated by the SB796. The expansion will be studied after a period of time and must save money rather than increase Medicaid spending. Matt reported implementation timeline is targeted for June 1, 2010. Providers will probably have to have a Medicaid provider number and if in a Medicaid managed care area, must be in the network. Policies are currently being developed and must have CMS approval. Rates must also be developed by HHSC and rate hearings are anticipated sometime in October or November. Private LCDC providers will probably not be an approved provider type.

Results from the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings

2009-09-10T16:31:00.000-07:00

Access the report here.

This report presents the first information from the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), an annual survey sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The survey is the primary source of information on the use of illicit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco in the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States aged 12 years old or older. The survey interviews approximately 67,500 persons each year. Unless otherwise noted, all comparisons in this report described using terms such as "increased," "decreased," or "more than" are statistically significant at the .05 level.

Missouri Sets New Standard for Juvenile Detention

2009-09-09T18:52:00.000-07:00

From ABC's Primetime

Watch video

Innovative Facilities for Kid Criminals Are Short on Guards and Long on Hugs:

For most of the nearly 100,000 kids in America's juvenile justice system, life in prison means orange jumpsuits, barred cells and constant guard.
But the Waverly Regional Youth Center in Missouri is a different kind of detention center. It's the home and hope for 44 boys already embarked on a life on crime. The walls are adorned with colorful posters and bulletin boards with positive affirmations. Counselors and dormitories have replaced guards and cellblocks.

For over a year, "Primetime" lived alongside the kids to examine firsthand this radical take on juvenile justice. By taking some of the hard edges out of juvenile corrections, the state of Missouri has chalked up results that have corrections experts across the country taking notice.

Wrongly convicted Texans become instant millionaires New law makes Texas most generous state for payments to cleared prisoners.

2009-09-08T19:47:00.000-07:00

Read the rest here.

DALLAS (AP) — … Exonerees will get $80,000 for each year they spent behind bars. The compensation also includes lifetime annuity payments that for most of the wrongly convicted are worth between $40,000 and $50,000 a year — making it by far the nation's most generous package. … Exonerees also receive an array of social services, including job training, tuition credits and access to medical and dental treatment. Though 27 other states have some form of compensation law for the wrongly convicted, none comes close to offering the social services and money Texas provides.

Educational Aftercare & Reintegration Toolkit for Juvenile Justice Professionals, 2nd ed.

2009-09-08T19:43:00.000-07:00

Download toolkit here.

Youth who are adjudicated delinquent frequently encounter problems in obtaining appropriate education services in placement, as well as when they are released and reintegrated into their communities. This Toolkit provides the basic information and resources needed to help juvenile probation officers and other juvenile justice professionals in Pennsylvania overcome (or at least minimize) these problems. While this Toolkit is specifically directed to juvenile probation officers in Pennsylvania, it may also be useful for the youth's attorney or for other juvenile justice professionals to help them plan for and participate in the educational aftercare of their clients.

Developing Mental Health Screening in Juvenile Justice

2009-09-02T16:22:00.000-07:00

Download here.

The development of routine mental health screening for juveniles involved with the criminal justice system is explained. Sections of this brief include: the drive toward mental health screening; considerations in the implementation of a screening and assessment process -- fulfilling regulatory requirements, improving staff decision, and managing resources; and policy recommendations.

Jaycee Dugard, transfixed by a monster - Includes past psych eval

2009-08-30T09:38:00.000-07:00

Public revulsion will focus on Phillip Garrido, the delusional sex offender likely to spend the rest of his life in jail
by Karen Franklin, from the Guardian.co.uk

In these harsh economic times, the saga of Jaycee Lee Dugard is especially riveting to the public imagination. Our horror and revulsion unite us. Who can we blame? How could this monster hide amongst us while committing unspeakable acts against innocent children?

Our collective furor and thirst for vengeance run counter to the principles of our justice system, under which a criminal defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Psychiatric issues will make justice especially slow for Phillip Garrido, the registered sex offender who is accused of holding Dugard hostage for 18 years, after kidnapping her in June 1991 when she was just 11. (Garrido and his wife Nancy have both denied the charges.)

Initial evidence points toward a psychosis. In an interview from jail, Garrido called Dugard's story "heartwarming" and referenced secret documents and "hundreds and hundreds of thousands" of lawsuits. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. The wonders of the internet allow us to travel back in time and enter his mind, via rambling blog posts about voices in his head, mind control, and religious delusions of himself as the savior.

Ironically, more than a year ago Garrido referenced the potential for psychotic symptoms to cause violence against children. A woman who drowned her three children in the San Francisco Bay was, he wrote, "led by a powerful internal and external (hearing) process that places the human mind under a hypnotic siege that in time leads a person to build a delusional belief system that drives them to whatever course of action they take."

Defense attorneys in such cases would undoubtedly consider an insanity defense, inciting more public anger. High-profile cases skew public perceptions of this defence, which is rarely used and even more rarely successful. As one lawyer put it, "You can be extremely crazy without being legally insane. You can hear voices, you can operate under intermittent delusions, you can see rabbits in the road that aren't there and still be legally sane." Here, the prosecution could counter any insanity claim by pointing to Garrido's seemingly rational conduct, for example in running a printing business.

Another public misconception is that freedom follows a successful insanity defense. In reality, most insanity acquittees are sent to locked state hospitals that look very much like prisons. And, in the unlikely event that the 58-year-old Garrido was ever considered for discharge, he would be eligible for further detention under California's sexually violent predator law.

Competency to stand trial is another psycho-legal issue that may engender confusion in this case. While insanity pertains to an accused person's past state of mind, and whether he knew the difference between right and wrong at the time of his crime, competency pertains to his present ability to understand the legal proceedings and assist his attorney. As such, incompetency is not a permanent barrier to prosecution. A person who is found incompetent is treated until he becomes competent, at which time he stands trial.

After the dust settles and the legal manoeuvring ends, Garrido will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars if found guilty. Meanwhile, as with abduction survivors Elizabeth Smart of Utah, Natascha Kampusch in Austria, and fellow Californians Colleen Stan and Steven Stayner, the details of Jaycee Dugard's tragedy will gradually fade from our collective memory.

Until the next monster comes along and creates panic anew.

Fortunately, cases like this are so extraordinarily rare that they do not merit the public panic they engender. Although riveting, in the end the Dugard saga serves to distract us from the real dangers facing children in California today, including family child abuse and bankrupt schools preparing children for hopeless futures.

see also: A deluded man, certainly, but probably not America's Fritzl

Here's his 1976 Psych Eval.

County scrambling to fill the void

2009-08-28T19:36:00.000-07:00

Officials try to find funds for inmate services after a state program was cut
By Rich Flowers News Editor

Henderson County is scrambling to overcome a loss of funds cut from a state program that provided inmate mental evaluations and other services.

The Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical and Mental Impairments had funded the program which was administered in Henderson County through the Andrews Center. Last week, Henderson County Judge David Holstein’s office received notice the inmate evaluations had been terminated.

Tuesday, the Andrews Center board met to try to fill the gap left by TCOOMMI. Chief of Operations Cindy Grace said the meeting left the board still looking for answers.

“All we know is TCOOMMI is no longer funding that,” she said. “We’re awaiting direction from the Texas Department of State Health Services on how that is going to be funded. Right now we don’t have any direction on that.”

TCOOMMI was created by the Texas Legislature in 1989 to “reduce the time of additional imprisonment, reduce recidivism and divert offenders with mental illness, mental retardation and severe medical impairments to appropriate treatments instead of incarceration.”

Henderson County pays Andrews Center $30,000 each year for help with the mentally ill, mentally retarded, chemically dependent and mentally disabled. The center offers screenings to determine if the individual is in need of emergency services and provides the county with after-hour mental evaluation and commitment screenings.

Holstein said the county has only been involved with TCOOMMI for a few months. He was optimistic the program would be beneficial for the county.

Kay Dingler, with Holstein’s office, serves on the Andrews Center board.

“As it stands right now there are two options. The Texas Department of State Health Services would supplement it and provide services. They could either fund what they’ve taken away, or provide a different program,” Dingler said. “Another possibility is for the Andrews Center to offer the services. Right now, it’s a hurry up and wait sort of thing — but there are not many options right now.”

Grace said her office has been in contact with Dingler concerning the issue.

“I don’t think we’ve come to any agreement yet,” Grace said. “It’s still in the process of planning. I can‘t really tell you what the result is going to be.”

TCOOMMI provided several services in addition to mental evaluations for local county jail inmates. The program also offered assistance for parolees and probationers residing within Henderson County, Dingler said.

If the county has to pick up the bill for inmate evaluations, the funds will have to be found in an already tight 2010 budget.

Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI) Treatment and Monitoring - New Hampshire

2009-08-27T20:59:00.000-07:00

This policy covers the provision of "confinement, security and treatment for persons committed" to the Secure Psychiatric Unit (SPU) due to their being deemed by the court not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI). Procedures explained are: admission procedures in addition to general rules; discharge from SPU; discharge from New Hampshire Hospital (NHH) to another unit; and transitional services after SPU discharge. Also attached are "Guidelines for NGRI Transfer Process from SPU," the sample from "Request to Initiate NGRI Transfer," and "Facilitating Conditional Discharge for Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI)."

Download document.

Inmate Behavior Management: The Key to a Safe and Secure Jail

2009-08-27T20:56:00.000-07:00

This guide “presents six key elements that, in combination, will help jails reduce a wide array of negative, destructive, and dangerous inmate behavior” (p. v). These elements are: assessing risk and needs; assigning inmates to housing; meeting inmates’ basic needs; defining and conveying expectations for inmate behavior; supervising inmates; and keeping inmates productively occupied.

Download the guide.

Mental Health Symptoms of Incarcerated Juvenile Offenders: Change and Continuity During the First Three Months in a Secure Facility

2009-08-25T20:23:00.000-07:00

Click here for the study.
The changes in juvenile offenders' mental health symptoms over the first 11 weeks of their incarceration and the relationship of these adjustments to violent behavior are examined. Sections of this Bulletin include: highlights; introduction; methodology using MAYSI-2 (Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument, Version 2); mental health at baseline; mental health symptoms over time -- alcohol/drug use, angry-irritable, depressed-anxious, somatic complaints, suicide ideation, and mental health symptoms and violent behavior; and summary/implications. Variable patterns of mental health change exist.

Jail Suicide / Mental Health Update Newsletter

2009-08-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

From the Newsletter:
The Tragic and Preventable Death of David Thomas:

David Thomas1 was born into a life of turmoil and discord in
Atlanta, Georgia on November 3, 1987. His mother, Anne,
gave birth to her son at age 18 after many years of institutionalization
for incorrigibility and mental illness. She was reportedly raped at
age 13 in one of many institutional placements. David’s father left
the family early on in his life, but not before sexually and physically
abusing both he and his younger sister. Anne Thomas was in and
out of her son’s life for much of the early years, debilitated by both
substance abuse and mental illness. As a troubled young adult,
she was self-described as an irresponsible parent. During this
time, David was cared for by his grandmother, Barbara Mitchell,
herself a victim of childhood sexual abuse. Ms. Mitchell tried to
become a stabilizing factor in his life. However, as a result of his
unsettled and dysfunctional early years, David experienced
learning difficulties at school that were associated with delinquent
behavior. (Click on the newsletter to read the rest)

Evaluation of the Jail Data Link Program

2009-08-21T21:10:00.000-07:00

Click here for the full report.
address problems faced by "[m]entally jail inmates who were previously served by mental health centers" - treatment disruption, inadequate care in jail and failure to reconnect at community reentry - is assessed (p. 7). This report is divided into seventeen sections following an executive summary: introduction; background; JDL program model; methodology; identification and selection of project participants; characteristics; reliability and use of JDI; project implementation; referrals and linkages outcomes; JDL system sample -- JDL cases compared to non-JDL cases; Intensive Case Review (ICR) sample; Department of Mental Health (DMH) booking data and site interview data; summary of recidivism outcomes; administrative and community context and collaboration; information sharing; project design, costs, and sustainability; and conclusions and recommendations. Results show that JDL improves the connections between mental health agencies and jails.

Letter to County Sheriffs from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards

2009-08-19T17:23:00.000-07:00

Upon the conclusion of the 81st Legislature, new laws were enacted that will require seven changes to Minimum Jail Standards. The seven proposed changes to Minimum Jail Standards are enclosed. The formal adoption of the amended minimum jail standards will progress through normal rulemaking procedures as outlined in Title 37 Part 9 Chapter 255 of the Texas Administrative Code and will likely be adopted in November. However, all new statutes will go into effect on September 1, 2009 and will require Texas jails to make necessary changes on that date. To assist in the transition, the following information outlines enacted legislation, changes to minimum jail standards, and required action of Texas counties.

Read the rest here.

Mental Issues That Can Lead to Violence

2009-08-17T18:05:00.000-07:00

Tarrant County’s tragic record of infant mortality

2009-08-17T18:02:00.000-07:00

From Star-Telegram.com

Infant mortality is often used to compare the health and well-being of nations, as well as population groups within nations. On this measure — defined as babies who die before their first birthday — our nation, state and county tragically perform poorly.

In 2004, the United States ranked 29th in the world, trailing developing nations such as Cuba and Hungary, at 6.3 deaths per 1,000 live births.
In 2005, the U.S. rate rose to 6.9 per 1,000, compared with 6.5 for Texas. Tarrant County’s performance comparatively is atrocious at 8.2 per 1,000 live births. Fort Worth has the highest rate for Texas cities with 10,000 or more births at 8.1, and Arlington is highest in cities with 5,000 or more births at 9.4.

Infant mortality is the ultimate racial health disparity. In Tarrant County in 2005, the rate for blacks was 19.5 per 1,000 births, compared with 6.0 for whites and 6.9 for Hispanics. More than 200 people carrying red-and-white umbrellas participated in a "Stop the Reign of Infant Mortality" silent march Wednesday in downtown Fort Worth to raise awareness.

Medically, the primary causes of infant mortality are low-birth-weight babies, especially those born prematurely; genetic deformities; and sudden infant death syndrome. Less than 2 percent of U.S. births — those babies born before 32 weeks of pregnancy — account for half of the deaths.

But those causes are closely linked to unhealthy mothers who struggle with economic and environmental disadvantages and cope by practicing unhealthy behaviors. Women who drink, smoke, eat poorly during pregnancy or suffer physical and mental abuse are much more likely to have low-birth-weight babies.

Location can be an enormous factor. Women often lack transportation to seek prenatal care and poor neighborhoods typically suffer healthcare provider shortages. These areas are also considered "food deserts," meaning the lack of available supermarkets with ample supplies of nutritious food.

In 2007, Fort Worth Women’s Health Initiative assessed the health of women 18-44 years old in four ZIP codes — 76104, 76105, 76112 and 76119 — using in-person interviews. Those codes are among the nation’s worst 25 in infant deaths. About 58 percent of the women were black and 33 percent were Hispanic. What they found:

Nearly 36 percent had less than a high school education; about 71 percent were not married. More than 69 percent were overweight or obese, about 25 percent reported feeling depressed or hopeless nearly every day and more than 8 percent had been physically abused in the past year.

An astounding 82 percent were uninsured, compared with about 37 percent of women 18-44 in Texas and about 21 percent nationally.

Few took advantage of safety-net programs. Although most native-born women were eligible for the JPS Health Network, only about 9 percent were enrolled. About 22 percent said they had no pregnancy-health coverage despite the fact that county and state programs cover all pregnant women in Fort Worth.

Prenatal care is an important component of ensuring a healthy pregnancy. But as the study’s authors point out, such care is often too late because it cannot undo years of damage to health. They emphasize the need for preconception health interventions and family planning, given that about 50 percent of pregnancies are unplanned.

Programs such as the Fort Worth/Dallas Birthing Project that match volunteers and pregnant girls to provide mentoring and emotional support are crucial. Such efforts can go a long way to help mitigate the disparities that foster heartbreaking loss of innocent lives.

Prison spending hits a brick wall

2009-08-16T16:57:00.000-07:00

In a season of deep deficits and alarming program cuts, why aren’t states more seriously focused on reducing their swelling prison populations?

The Vera Institute of Justice reports unusual progress–22 states, pressed by recession, reluctantly starting cutbacks. But with a world-leading 2.3 million people behind bars, the United States has a long, long ways to go.

California’s case is extreme–but illustrative. In the mid-1970s, it was jailing 20,000 offenders. Today the total is 168,000 inmates–an increase of 740 percent. In 1999, its prison system cost an already massive $4 billion to operate. Now, with more prisoners, more penitentiaries, more guards, more health costs, the budget figure has topped $10 billion–a big contributor to California’s $26 billion budget shortfall.

And the money’s producing more horrors than cures. After 14 years of lawsuits by inmates alleging cruel and unusual punishment, a three-judge federal court panel Aug. 4 ordered California to reduce its prisoner roll by 43,000 inmates over the next two years.

The state, the judges wrote shortly before a major riot at the state prison at Chino, has created a “criminogenic” system that actually pushes prisoners and parolees to more crimes through “appalling,” “horrific” prison conditions:

“Thousands of prisoners are assigned to ‘bad beds,’ such as triple-bunked beds placed in gymnasiums or day rooms, and some institutions have populations approaching 300 percent of their intended capacity. In these overcrowded conditions, inmate-on-inmate violence is almost impossible to prevent, infectious diseases spread more easily, and lockdowns are sometimes the only means by which to maintain control. In short, California’s prisons are bursting at the seams and are impossible to manage.”

Mentally ill inmates are left without access to health care, said the judges, noting that in the last four years “a California inmate was dying needlessly every six or seven days.”

Click here for the rest.

See also: At least 26 states spend less on prisons

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY - Sentencing and Incarceration Alternatives Project

2009-08-15T18:56:00.000-07:00

The Open Society Institute is accepting letters of inquiry for grants under its Sentencing and Incarceration Alternatives Project, which supports groups working to eliminate racial and class disparities in sentencing and incarceration; limit the growth of prisons; mobilize communities affected by high rates of incarceration to call for changes in public policy; promote alternatives to imprisonment; and reduce the length of criminal sentences.

Advocacy groups, associations of elected officials, community organizations, government agencies, nonprofit business associations, and research or scholarly institutions may apply.

Application deadline is open. For more information, contact Christina Voight, OSI, 400 West 59th Street, New York, NY 10019; 212-548-0600, or e-mail cvoight@sorosny.org.

TDCJ Pay Raise Update - 81st Legislature

2009-08-14T21:24:00.000-07:00

The 81st Texas Legislature funded a targeted pay increase for correctional officers. Beginning with their September 2009 pay (received October 1, 2009), these employees will see, on average, a 3.5% increase in their gross monthly pay. In addition, those same employees will see another 3.5% increase effective September 1, 2010.

Correctional Officer Salary Rates effective September 1, 2009

Title-----Months of Service-----Monthly Salary
CO I--------0-2-------------------$2,240.63
CO II-------3-8-------------------$2,371.88
CO III------9-14-----------------*$2,510.20
CO III------15-30-----------------$2,653.18
CO IV-------31-42-----------------$2,730.00
CO IV-------43-54-----------------$2,808.64
CO IV-------55-90-----------------$2,893.34
CO V--------91+-------------------$2,982.02
*Higher starting salary for Bachelor’s degree or two years active military service.

We can prevent tragedies from postpartum illness - Update

2009-08-14T17:38:00.000-07:00

From the Houston Chronicle:

Every new mother is expected to feel joyous at the birth of a new child. After all, the creation of life is supposed to be the height of a mother's life experience. But if you're a mother living with postpartum mental illness, that's not always the case.

The recent reports of Otty Sanchez, the San Antonio mother diagnosed with postpartum psychosis prior to killing her baby, are troubling and tragic. Concern about this situation resonates with people in communities throughout our area because of Andrea Yates and her children, who experienced a similar tragedy.

Although the cases of Andrea Yates and Otty Sanchez are both extreme instances of postpartum psychosis, a serious mental illness that only occurs in about one in 1,000 mothers, the illness has once again become a topic of discussion, as well as a source of misunderstanding, in Houston, the U.S. and around the world.

Watching in shock and disbelief as the details of this recent tragedy unfold makes us all wonder how could this happen? Perhaps more importantly, we can ask ourselves, what can we do as individuals and as a community to prevent such tragedies?

Through years of research, we have been able to identify the risk factors associated with postpartum mental illnesses along with their most recognizable symptoms. Early identification of postpartum illnesses can lead to early treatment. In most cases, with treatment, mothers are able to fully recover. Postpartum mental illnesses are identifiable, treatable and in most cases, preventable. With education, we can all learn to identify the symptoms of postpartum mental illnesses, guide mothers to treatment and recovery and simultaneously protect their children.

Postpartum psychosis should not be confused with the much more common postpartum depression. Some of the symptoms of postpartum depression include: sadness and crying, problems sleeping, not wanting to hold or touch the baby (not enjoying the baby), feeling extremely tired or having changes in eating patterns.

On the other hand, some general symptoms of postpartum psychosis include: hearing voices, seeing things, shutting down or withdrawing from others, confused or disorganized thoughts and having thoughts about hurting herself or her baby.

While both postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis require the care and treatment of a mental health or health care professional, postpartum psychosis should be treated as an emergency and a medical professional should be contacted immediately. A mother diagnosed with postpartum psychosis usually requires hospitalization until she is in stable condition. Hospitalization is required to protect the mother and child. A mother who has postpartum psychosis should never be left alone with her child.

When a mother has postpartum psychosis, it is important that people take the signs seriously and understand that help means connecting with a health care professional quickly.

Building awareness and education about postpartum mental illnesses are steps that we have already begun in our community. Since the Yates case, Houston has created ways to reach out to mothers, families and health care professionals about postpartum mental illnesses.

With the foresight of Yates' attorney, George Parnham, Mental Health America of Greater Houston created the Yates Children Memorial Fund in 2002 to support educational efforts for health care professionals and the public about postpartum mental illnesses. Mental Health America of Greater Houston continues its work today by increasing awareness about postpartum mental illnesses and creating educational materials such as brochures and posters that are distributed to hospitals, clinics, social service agencies and others who come in contact with mothers. Free trainings on postpartum mental illnesses for health care professionals are also provided by local experts.

Screening for postpartum depression is another area of prevention where we focus our attention. As an organization we also advocate for postpartum depression screenings at health care visits. Health care professionals can quickly and easily screen mothers for postpartum depression at well-woman and well-child visits. Screening is an affordable, efficient and effective means of identifying mothers who may be suffering from postpartum depression. Legislative support for screening, education and treatment for postpartum mental illnesses is also crucial to community efforts.

No one wants to see a baby or a small child die at the hands of his/her own mother. Rather than denying the reality of postpartum mental illnesses, we must work together to ensure that a tragedy like this never happens again.

Schwartz is president and CEO of Mental Health America of Greater Houston, the area's oldest mental health education and advocacy organization. www.mhahouston.org.

update: Baby Blues Explained to Moms

Juarez violence takes toll on mental health

2009-08-14T17:29:00.000-07:00

EL PASO, Texas -- There is rarely a day when we don't report about the increasing brutality across the border.

From beheadings to bullet riddled bodies to extortion schemes that turn deadly, it seems the cartels in Juarez know no limits.

Now an El Paso psychologist says the emotional stress of the violence is taking a heavy toll on both sides of the border.

Achieving Better Outcomes for People with Mental Illnesses Involved in the Criminal Justice System In Tough Economic Times

2009-08-14T14:08:00.000-07:00

A must read for any state agency involved in MH/CJ issues.
On July 15-17, 2009, the Council of State Governments Justice Center, in partnership with the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), hosted a technical assistance and training event for nearly 500 representatives from state and local governments and community-based programs who have expressed interest in improving how the justice system responds to adults and juveniles with mental illnesses.

This was the largest training forum ever organized by BJA on this topic. Participation in the event was limited primarily to representatives from jurisdictions that received grants through BJA's Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP), as well as jurisdictions that applied for but did not receive funding from JMHCP. Several other collaborative criminal justice/mental health teams were also in attendance.

agenda

all handouts and presentations

Texas Mental Health System is Underfunded

2009-08-10T11:42:00.000-07:00

From my SA:
Mental health system is underfunded, flawed

The case of a reportedly schizophrenic woman with postpartum psychosis, arrested late last month in the brutal murder of her 4-week-old son, has once again brought the lack of funding for the treatment of mental illness into the public conversation.

There has been much public outrage that the young mother did not get the medical attention she needed before her baby died.

The tragedy has left many in the community wondering what can be done to resolve the problems and frustrated at the lack of services available.

Unfortunately, once the news headlines in extreme cases such as this fade, so does the public focus on the problems of those who suffer from mental illness and their families.

The lack of funding for mental health services is not new.

Texas ranks 49th out of the 50 states when it comes to per capita funding for mental health service and has earned a D from the National Alliance on Mental Illness for its mental health care, Express-News staff writer Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje reported.

The local mental health care office is overwhelmed and its services are stretched to the limit.

It is serving a thousand more patients than it gets funded to treat. That cannot be good for the staff or its patients.

Quality of care suffers when the system is overburdened.

Unfortunately, in many cases it often takes a brush with the law before mental health services become available.

The county operates a very good diversion program to keep mentally ill inmates out of jail and get them into treatment.

In recent years, county officials also created mental health courts for juveniles and adults who come in contact with the criminal justice system.

The courts are designed to keep mentally ill people out of jail when they don’t get the services they so desperately need.

These are all much better alternatives to incarceration but are not nearly enough.

Many mentally ill individuals never come in contact with law enforcement or the criminal justice system, and they are often in the same desperate need of help.

It should not take a crisis to get them the help they need.

Mentally Ill Addict Prefers Jail to Shelters

2009-08-08T15:15:00.000-07:00

Mentally ill addict prefers jail to shelters

02:34 PM CDT on Sunday, August 2, 2009

By KIM HORNER / The Dallas Morning News
khorner@dallasnews.com

Despite eight years in and out of Dallas hospitals, emergency rooms, jail and drug treatment centers, Robert Ceccarelli is still homeless and still addicted.

The former special education teacher, who has bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, said he has tried many times to get off crack cocaine.

"I don't have much control over the compulsion," said Ceccarelli, who sells plasma to fuel his dependency. "It's ruined my life."

The city helped him get a subsidized apartment last fall. But he relapsed, got arrested for theft and went to jail two weeks later. He said the place was in a neighborhood where he routinely bought drugs, and the temptation was too great.

"That's the problem – they put you in dope-infested areas," he said.

Ceccarelli spent nearly the first half of 2009 in the Dallas County jail, at a cost of more than $8,000. In the summer of 2008, he spent four months at the Salvation Army through a program paid by the county, at a cost of at least $1,200. He spent a couple of weeks at Terrell State Hospital, at a cost of $5,222. In addition, the public mental health care system has spent more than $30,862 on his care in the past five years.

The 53-year-old said he does not need more drug treatment after at least 15 times in rehab. Instead, he said, there should be more resources spent on housing that comes with services to help people stay stable. He said it's nearly impossible to stay clean on the streets.

Ceccarelli would rather stay anywhere than a shelter. He has shoplifted at a Dallas mall just so he could go to jail and, after that, he hoped, get into a housing program. At first, he said, police wanted to let him go.

He said, "I pleaded with them to arrest me."

Understanding and Ending the Cycle of Homelessness and Incarceration Through Permanent Supportive Housing

2009-08-08T15:10:00.000-07:00

Click here for the ppt. Ending chronic homelessness is an achievable goal, but only if there is a strong commitment from local government leaders, federal and state policy makers, and the community at large.

Stanford Prison Experiment

2009-08-07T20:19:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Stanford Prison Experiment web site, which features an extensive slide show and information about this classic psychology experiment, including parallels with the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. What happens when you put good people in an evil place? Does humanity win over evil, or does evil triumph? These are some of the questions we posed in this dramatic simulation of prison life conducted in the summer of 1971 at Stanford University.

How we went about testing these questions and what we found may astound you. Our planned two-week investigation into the psychology of prison life had to be ended prematurely after only six days because of what the situation was doing to the college students who participated. In only a few days, our guards became sadistic and our prisoners became depressed and showed signs of extreme stress. Please join me on a slide tour describing this experiment and uncovering what it tells us about the nature of human nature.

From Time Out to Hard Time: Young Children in the Adult Criminal Justice System

2009-08-06T20:45:00.000-07:00

“This report provides the first-ever comprehensive look at how the nation treats young children who commit serious crimes, analyzes the available data with regard to the transfer of young children to adult criminal court, documents the extremely harsh and tragic consequences that follow when young children go into the adult criminal justice system, examines international practices, and offers policy recommendations to address this situation” (p. xiii). Chapters in addition to an executive summary are: introduction; children are different; pre-adolescents in adult court -- transfer policies and practices; sentencing policies and practices affecting young children in adult court; when transfer policies and adult sentencing statutes collide -- a focus on states with harsh outcomes for pre-adolescent offenders; problems associated with trying young children as adults; the juvenile justice system works; considering the global context -- an international consensus against treating pre-adolescent children as adults; and policy recommendations. An appendix provides information about international practices regarding the treatment of children as adults in a table showing the country, minimum age of criminal responsibility, other protections for children, and citation/law.

GAINS Center Seeking Input From Juvenile Mental Health Courts

2009-08-06T04:50:00.000-07:00

The National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice is seeking assistance in identifying juvenile mental health courts across the country.

Over the last few years, there has been a significant growth in the development of mental health courts for juveniles. In 2005, the National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice, with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, undertook a project designed to identify existing juvenile mental health courts and collect information on funding, organization and administration, court processes, services, and target populations of these courts. Information on the results of this effort can be found at NCMHJJ.

The Center is seeking to update its inventory of juvenile mental health courts information. If you currently operate a juvenile mental health court, or are aware of any juvenile mental health courts in your area, please take a minute to provide us with some basic information about the program using the following link: SurveyMonkey.com.

Thank You.

So If We Balanced the Budget, Then What's Up With All the Program Cuts?

2009-08-04T16:34:00.000-07:00

From Off the Kuff:
In addition to billions of stimulus dollars, the budget this year relied on some old tricks to get certified as balanced.

Nearly $3.7 billion in levies collected for everything from fighting air pollution to helping low-income people with their electric bills to funding trauma care will instead help balance the state’s upcoming two-year budget.

The money, for the most part, is collected through fees and fines that legally are dedicated for a particular purpose. If lawmakers do not spend the money on the dedicated purposes, however, the balances become available to spend on other programs.

“It’s kind of like having your (household) budget laid out and spending part of your food money on entertainment, or vice versa,” said Dale Craymer, chief economist of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, who has worked for a state comptroller, two governors and as the Texas House fiscal analyst. “It’s a backdoor way to undedicate the money.”

It’s pretty much the same thing every two years. We have a bunch of dedicated funds, which levy fees on certain things that are supposed to pay for certain specific items, then for a variety of reasons we decide to use some of that money for other things. It would be more honest to dedicate the money to general revenue, and it would be fairer to admit that we do this sort of thing because we refuse to adequately fund the things we want to pay for via the taxes we already collect and to deal with that, but we don’t. And so the shell game keeps getting played.

In some cases, unspent balances in dedicated accounts have grown to hundreds of millions of dollars over years.

For example, the System Benefit Fund has accrued more than $670 million. The program imposes a fee on electricity customers in competitive retail markets, including Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and most of the Rio Grande Valley, to provide a May-September discount for low-income customers.

[...]

“We’re generating funds for a good purpose. We’re diverting the funds, without telling people, for general purposes. And then we say we’re not taxing. Well, government is lying,” said Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, who called such levies amount to “a tax by misrepresentation.”

Turner is a big advocate of the System Benefit Fund, which he tried but failed to restore full funding to in 2007. Especially in a summer like this one, it would have been nice for there to be help available for folks who can’t afford their utility bills, but as has often been the case, it wasn’t a priority.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, said he understands the argument, but “if you are going to criticize that, then go tell me what other parts of the budget I’m supposed to cut. … The choice to complain about it is just hot air.”

Alternatives, he said, would be raising general taxes or dipping into the state savings account known as the rainy day fund, which budget-writers expect to need in the future.

“The long and short of it is, we have to do this in order to balance the budget,” Ogden said. “I guess this was the least objectionable of the four alternatives.”

The situation points up a major public policy issue, he said.

“Our tax and revenue system is pretty messed up, and a case can certainly be made for a major overhaul of our tax structure,” Ogden said.

I would have argued that the rainy day fund was the right way to go, as I was arguing for the budget in general before the stimulus funds saved the day. But Sen. Ogden is correct that our system is broken and needs fixing. He’s not the guy I want fixing it, mind you, but he’s right about the problem. As with many other things, that isn’t going to happen until we get a change not just in leadership but in our philosophy of governing. I can’t say I see that happening any time soon.

So how is Texas supposedly spending the Stimulus Money? Click here to find out.

Mental health system leaves gaps

2009-08-03T11:07:00.000-07:00

What can you do to prevent this from happening? Can you write a letter? send an email? Pick up the telephone? Click here to find out who your public officials are and how to get a hold of them. All you have to do is enter your zip code under "Find your officials" and your state and national officials will be listed.

For the full article: "Mental health system leaves gaps" click here

Sanchez had sought help a week before the slaying, checking herself into a hospital after hearing voices. But she soon checked herself out, something she could do because she'd entered the facility voluntarily, as opposed to an involuntary commitment.

In the hours before she is alleged to have decapitated the baby at a North Side home, her erratic behavior around the child caught the attention of relatives and sheriff's deputies, but she never was detained because her behavior, though odd, was not deemed violent.

Mental health experts express outrage that more isn't done to force mentally ill people into treatment that might prevent such tragedies as the Sanchez case from happening.

“The only way a family can get relief is for their son or daughter to commit a serious felony, where the legal system can have a legal hold on them for the remainder of their sentence — put them in a halfway house or forensic outpatient program,” said Dr. Roberto Jimenez, clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. “But the majority of mentally ill people only commit misdemeanors and they just drift.”

Nor, he added, can mentally ill people be compelled to take their medication, except in rare court-ordered circumstances.

The Sanchez case plays out in a state where the mental health system is seriously stressed — chiefly because of lack of money.

Texas ranks 49th out of the 50 states when it comes to per-capita funding for mental health services. The National Alliance on Mental Illness each year issues a report card delineating how states do in mental health care, and in 2008 Texas earned an ignominious D.

Otty Sanchez Was Not a Threat to Herself or Others? (I. E. Who's Responsible for Baby Scotty's Death?)

2009-08-01T21:19:00.000-07:00

"was not a threat to herself or others." - It is easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle than it is for a person to get into a psychiatric hospital. Otty Sanchez went to the ER in psychiatric crisis a few days prior to killing her baby. She was released the same day because she "was not a threat to herself or others." Is the hospital to blame? We obviously do not know all the facts, so it is not fair to criticize this hospital's crisis response. After all, they cannot predict the future. They just represent a dwindling resource - psychiatric bed days.

Our mental health care system is screwed up - not necessarily FUBAR, but definitely screwed up. The less money appropriated, the more expensive it becomes. It is toward the end of the fiscal year and money appropriated for indigent hospital bed days are gone except for the most critical crisis calls. Perhaps if this would have occurred in September, after the new fiscal year, then possibly Baby Scotty would still be alive today. Who's to say? If Otty Sanchez stayed in the hospital a few weeks it would have cost less than $5000, but now, taxpayers will be paying millions. Most importantly, though, you cannot put a dollar figure on a baby's life (but isn't that what we have done?).

Who is accountable for Baby Scotty's death? Is it Sanchez? Is it her family for not intervening more? Is it Buchholz for not doing more? Is it law enforcement? Is it the hospital for not admitting her? Is it you and me for not supporting mental health legislation more? So, before we criticize the ER staff / crisis response team, maybe we need to look in the mirror. Did you tell your legislator to support mental health?

From the Houston Chronicle:

Mother accused of murder no stranger to authorities

In the days before Otty Sanchez killed her 4-week-old son and mutilated his body, there were at least two major incidents where her behavior triggered a crisis response by doctors and police.

Yet, in each case, Sanchez slipped through the cracks and returned to her baby Scott W. Buchholz Sanchez at a near North Side home, where police said she killed the infant Sunday morning while her mother, sister, and two other young children apparently slept.

Mental health experts said there's no way to know whether the slaying of Scott Wesley Buchholz Sanchez could have been avoided.

But family, doctors and police certainly had opportunities to intervene as when the tragic series of events began unfolding in the week before Sanchez allegedly decapitated "baby Scotty" and ate parts of his body.

On July 20, after doctors at a local clinic determined Sanchez, 33, was having a severe mental breakdown, she was transported to the Metropolitan Methodist Hospital emergency room, but released the same day.

"I can't confirm details of her treatment or what happened," said JoAnn King, a hospital spokeswoman.

A source familiar with the investigation but unauthorized to speak to the media said she should have remained hospitalized, but the ER staff thought she "was not a threat to herself or others."

"A lot of people are still wondering why they let her go," the source said.

Should Postpartum Screening for Depression or Psychosis be Mandatory?

2009-08-01T20:47:00.000-07:00

Mom Accused of Beheading Baby Points to Need for Mandatory Postpartum Depression Screening

The savage dismembering of a Texas baby allegedly by his own mother this past Sunday is the most recent example of why new mothers need to be carefully monitored by their physicians during and after their pregnancies, doctors say.

Although it only makes the news when a new mother harms her child or children — think Andrea Yates — due to postpartum depression, the truth is, said one doctor, there are also many cases where new mothers harm, even kill, themselves in the months after giving birth to a child.

“All obstetrical doctors that deliver babies need to do pre- and post-natal assessments of new mothers,” said Dr. Manny Alvarez, managing editor of health for FOXNews.com. “This is a real disease. It affects 15-20 percent of all pregnant women. And it’s not only dangerous for the child, but also for the mother.”
. . . .
Having a history of mental illness puts women at an increased risk for postpartum depression. The reported events surrounding the Sanchez case, if proven true, could point to an even more severe form of postpartum depression called postpartum psychosis in which women hallucinate, hearing voices that aren't there.

“Postpartum depression is common enough that any obstetrician or pediatrician should be alert to the signs of that condition developing in new mothers, particularly in any new mother with a history of affective illness including major depression or bipolar disorder, said Dr. Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist and FOX News Channel contributor. “One of the reasons is that people with depression or bipolar disorder become delusional and come to have fixed beliefs about the world around them, which can include bizarre thoughts about their babies.”

Currently, a number of states require doctors to screen mothers for postpartum depression, including the state of New Jersey, where Alvarez is chairman of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Hackensack University Medical Center.

“In New Jersey, if you’re not assessing mothers both during and after pregnancy for postpartum depression, then you’re breaking the law,” he said. “And there’s a group, Postpartum Support International, that’s working to get Congress to pass legislation to make it a national law.”

Ablow said it wouldn’t be a bad idea for maternity wards to give new mothers a diagnostic test before they are discharged to assess whether they are starting to feel the effects of postpartum depression. However, the condition can set in at any point after giving birth, said Ablow, adding that some women don’t feel depressed until several months after their baby is born.

Ablow said it is important for women who have a history of depression – or women experiencing it for the first time – not to dismiss medication just because they are pregnant or breast-feeding.

“There are several helpful medicines you can take while you are pregnant and breast-feeding for depression, including some of the antidepressants,” Ablow said. “Not every woman needs to be taken off medication if she is depressed and pregnant.”

Alvarez, who recorded a government public service announcement in Spanish on the dangers of postpartum depression, said the signs of this disease can be subtle, which is why doctors should be aware of patients’ risk factors for the disease including previous mental health problems.

Other risk factors include having previously suffered postpartum depression, being pregnant with multiples, having medical problems such as hypertension and diabetes, and having suffered the previous loss of a child including miscarriages.”

Ablow said the following questions should be asked:

— Have you experienced a change in mood?

— Has your sleep or appetite changed?

— Do you have suicidal thoughts?

— Do you have peculiar thoughts about the baby?

— Have you become hopeless or lost interest in your daily activities?

Alvarez added, “You need to ask questions like ‘Do you feel sad?’ ‘Are you having difficulties?’ And if you’re patient says, ‘Yes I’m having a terrible time,’ you need to intervene.”

Alvarez said intervention can include putting moms in touch with psychologists and psychiatrists that specialize in postpartum depression, giving them information on support groups and emergency call centers and using medication to control symptoms when necessary.

Mother Decapitates 3 1/2 Week Old Newborn

2009-07-28T15:35:00.000-07:00

This is such a preventable tragedy. Mental illness has many victims and this is probably the most blatant example. We can't bring baby Scott back, but we can prevent it from happening again. These issues break my heart and I'm sure I will write more about this as I have more time.

from My SA:

It was Sanchez's mother who called police Sunday. She told them she was awakened by Sanchez around 4:30 a.m. She said she saw her daughter sitting with the boy. He had been decapitated, a police report said. Sanchez's mother took the baby, put him on a bed and called police, according to the report.

When police arrived, Sanchez was sitting on a couch, yelling, “I killed my baby. I want to die,” the report said.

An officer found the child's body lying in blood on a bed next to the knife, believed to be the weapon used in the killing, and two swords, which Rios said were not involved in the death. Authorities were seen carrying two bags out of the home, and officials on the scene confirmed that they contained the baby's remains.

The baby was missing body parts, and police were investigating claims the mother made to them about ingesting those parts, sources said.

Colchin was surprised to hear that Sanchez, who brought her baby across the street for a visit last week, is a suspect in the infant's death, though she admits Sanchez sometimes appeared a bit odd.

“She was never aggressive; always sweet,” Colchin said. “She did seem to be living in a world of her own, but she must have been deranged. I feel so sorry for that baby, the little angel.”

Rios said Sanchez did not have a criminal history related to mental illness, but police will investigate that further, and the district attorney's office will handle how Sanchez's mental state affected her actions.

Here's an update:

Sanchez told detectives that she was “hearing voices” and the devil made her kill her baby boy, who was born June 30.

The Bexar County district attorney's office will review the detectives' recommended capital murder charge, which is punishable by the death penalty.

“You can still be prosecuted if you have some form of mental illness,” said First Assistant District Attorney Cliff Herberg. “The test is if you understand the difference between right and wrong. The question is whether or not you know your act is wrong.”

Dr. Lucy Puryear, a Houston psychiatrist and author, said mothers who experience postpartum psychosis often have a history of other mental disorders, but in some cases childbirth triggers the psychosis.

“It's usually really severe,” Puryear said.

Puryear testified as an expert witness in the case of Andrea Yates, who drowned her five children in Houston in 2001.

While postpartum depression affects one in 10 mothers, Puryear said, the more severe postpartum psychosis — which includes hallucinations — affects one in 1,000.

“In all of the (high-profile) cases, the thinking involves the babies: The mother had to kill the baby to protect it, or God has spoken to the mother and there is a mission to kill the baby, or sometimes the baby is the devil, who needs to be gotten rid of to save the world,” she said.

Relatives said Sanchez's mental health severely deteriorated in the week before Scotty's death. On July 20, she moved out of the home she shared with the baby and his father near Windcrest.

The same day, she checked herself into a hospital after hearing voices, but she soon checked herself out, according to a source familiar with the investigation but unauthorized to speak to the media. She then took the baby to stay at her mother's home.

Buchholz said he called her every day to convince her to return, to no avail.

She finally reappeared about 2 p.m. Saturday at Buchholz's parents' home on the Northeast Side.

“We were so happy to see Scotty again,” Buchholz said.

She was at the home for about 15 minutes when Buchholz told Sanchez that he needed a copy of Scotty's birth certificate and Social Security card. The request seemed to “set her off,” Buchholz said.

“She grabbed the baby and just said, ‘I gotta go. I gotta go. I'm out of here.'”

His mother called 911, and a sheriff's deputy arrived to investigate the incident as a disturbance, court records show.

That night, while Buchholz was attending the Judas Priest concert, he received a cell phone call from Sanchez.

“She told me she had found someone else and she never wanted to see me again,” he said.

Police think she killed the baby six hours later.

The couple's volatile relationship was on and off for the past six years, ever since they met while enrolled in the San Antonio College of Medical and Dental Assistants, but they became dedicated to making it work after learning Sanchez was pregnant last year, relatives said.

“She took really good care of herself during the pregnancy,” said Buchholz, who also has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. “We were excited about having a baby.”

Mentally Ill Immigrants Have Little Hope For Care When Detained

2009-07-27T09:34:00.001-07:00

Mentally ill immigrants have little hope for care when detained
11:20 PM CDT on Sunday, July 12, 2009
By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News
eramshaw@dallasnews.com
AUSTIN – Jose Fernandez Sanchez was delusional when he broke a window to enter his neighbor's apartment. The schizophrenic and epileptic 45-year-old, who had gone to an Austin hospital the day before, complaining of hearing voices, told police he was trying to light a candle for his dead mother. But instead of taking Sanchez to get medical attention, authorities started deportation proceedings against him, leaving the legal permanent resident in a detention-center cell for eight months. By the time a judge saw Sanchez, he was so catatonic that he couldn't answer a simple question.
Sanchez was one of the lucky few: His siblings pooled their money to hire an attorney, who made a compelling case to an immigration judge. Sanchez went from the detention center to a San Antonio psychiatric hospital, where he should have been all along.
But most mentally ill immigrants aren't so fortunate. They get limited mental-health care while in detention, advocates say – and that's only if they're diagnosed. They aren't entitled to competency hearings before standing trial. And the majority of them face judges without legal counsel, and with little recourse to defend themselves from deportation.
"I felt like I didn't have the power to get help. They didn't care how they were taking care of me," said Sanchez, who emigrated from Mexico in 1988 and received amnesty in the United States. "I was very scared, because I knew if I was sent back to my country, they wouldn't be able to help me like the U.S."

National guidelines

Immigration detention officials say they have strict guidelines for mental-health care in detention centers. All inmates receive a mental-health screening as part of their intake exam, they say. Those with suspected mental illness are referred for more tests and treatment. In fiscal 2008, detention-center personnel performed nearly 30,000 mental-health interventions – including providing emergency care to detainees seen as suicide risks.
"We are continuing to work ... to improve the services and the availability of health care to those in our custody," said Tim Counts, spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
But immigration court officials acknowledge there's little guidance for how to handle mental health once these detainees come before a judge. Although judges can't accept an admission of guilt from an "unrepresented incompetent," there are no immigration-court proceedings to determine a person's competency. Judges have to go with their gut – which can be tough to gauge with language barriers and the frequent use of long-distance video conferencing.
"There are no rules or any guidelines or any laws related to determining mental competency," said Elaine Komis, spokeswoman for the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees deportation hearings for the U.S. Department of Justice. "When judges encounter someone who seems to be mentally incompetent, they do try as much as possible to arrange for some kind of pro bono counsel."
Social-justice advocates say that's not good enough. Researchers from the nonprofit advocacy group Texas Appleseed have teamed up with pro bono attorneys from the Akin Gump law firm to study mental-health procedures in detention and deportation proceedings. Their focus is on Texas, which houses a third of the country's immigrant detainees and is home to eight of the nation's 55 immigration courts.
These advocates say detention facilities don't consistently follow mental-health standards, and often don't have enough mental-health workers to handle the estimated 15 percent of detainees suffering from mental illness.
Until early this year, they say, two Texas detention centers housing a combined 2,700 people shared a single psychiatrist. As a result, they say, detainees who receive mental-health treatment in the community rarely get it once they're incarcerated. They miss medicine doses, get misdiagnosed or are prescribed drugs with which they aren't familiar.
"There are no real standards for diagnosing or dealing with mental-health issues while in the system," said Steve Schulman, a partner with Akin Gump who heads the firm's pro bono practice.

Lack of hearings

Advocates say that even if someone is diagnosed with mental illness in the detention setting, it's rare for that to get passed along to a judge.
Unlike in the criminal- justice system, there are no mental-competency hearings. Fewer than half of detainees have legal representation. Immigrants represented by attorneys are 50 percent more likely to avoid deportation, but the government has no obligation to appoint counsel for those who can't afford it.
"The end result is that people are being deported without regard for their mental health," said Ann Baddour, senior policy analyst at Texas Appleseed.
In one case, advocates say, a severely mentally ill woman was nearly deported to Russia because she told authorities she was a Russian immigrant. She was actually a U.S. citizen from Indiana. In another, a Haitian immigrant whom a criminal court had declared incompetent to stand trial was taken into custody by immigration officials at a psychiatric hospital.
Sanchez's siblings are sure their brother would have wound up back in Mexico – or worse, dead – if they hadn't been able to hire an attorney.
"He was never evaluated properly, never given proper treatment," said Sanchez's brother, who asked not to be identified because of his immigration status. "He was all alone in there. We feared the worst, that he would be deported or even take his own life."

The Bradley Report: Lord Bradley's Review of People with Mental Health Problems or Learning Disabilities in the Criminal Justice System (UK)

2009-07-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

Results are presented from a "six-month independent review to determine to what extent offenders with mental health problems or learning disabilities could be diverted from prison to other services and what were the barriers to such diversion" (p. 4). This report is divided into the following six chapters: setting the scene; early intervention, arrest, and prosecution; the court process; prison community sentences, and resettlement; delivering change through partnership; and annexes. The "Government's Response" is also attached.

Spotlight on Chief Justice Mental Health Task Force

2009-07-25T10:13:00.000-07:00

According to the Website:

The Council of State Governments Justice Center announced February 19, 2007 (link to Press Release) that Texas’s Court of Criminal Appeals has been selected to participate in the Chief Justices’ Criminal Justice / Mental Health Leadership Initiative. This is a national project designed to assist state supreme court chief justices in guiding efforts in their state to improve the response to people with mental illnesses in the criminal justice system. The Honorable Sharon Keller, Presiding Judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals, and Chair of the Task Force on Indigent Defense, has created a Mental Health Task Force to address problems involving people with mental illness who are in the criminal justice system. She applied to the Council of State Governments for outside funding and technical assistance for the committee.

Does this Task Force still exist? The website indicates that they had 5 meetings in 2007, but that is it.

Here's a copy of their work plan.

Act Now to Prevent the Incarceration of People with Mental Illness

2009-07-23T22:49:00.000-07:00

Take Action!
The criminalization of people with mental illness is a growing problem that devastates many members of our community. A study released this month in the journal Psychiatric Services shows that the prevalence of people with serious mental illness in jails is increasing. The study, which was presented June 1st at a Senate briefing featuring NAMI National board member Fred Frese, found that overall, 16% of jail inmates have a serious mental illness. Even more alarming, 31% of female jail inmates have a serious mental illness. These numbers suggest that up to 2 million jail bookings every year involve an individual with serious mental illness. From NAMI.org

Re-Entry Assistance from the National Institute of Corrections

2009-07-21T20:23:00.000-07:00

Now Available: Technical Assistance for States through the National Institute of Corrections’ Transition from Prison to the Community (TPC) Initiative

The National Institute of Corrections (NIC), part of the US Department of Justice, launched its Transition from Prison to the Community (TPC) Initiative in order to articulate a comprehensive and strategic approach to transition from prison. The result has been the creation of the TPC Model, which in part reflects the accomplishments of eight states who have made significant progress in enhancing their reentry practices to bring about increased community safety through successful offender reentry. See The TPC Reentry Handbook: Implementing the NIC Transition from Prison to the Community Model, which can be found at http://www.nicic.gov/Library/022669 for an overview of their accomplishments and a full description of the Model. A web-based version of the Handbook will be available soon at http://www.prisontransition.com.

NIC is now pleased to announce the beginning of a new phase of its TPC Initiative that will support technical assistance in up to six additional states. Competitive applications to participate in this phase of the TPC Initiative are due August 17, 2009. This assistance is intended as a resource for state jurisdictions willing and able to work with NIC technical assistance providers to put into place the principles, approaches, and strategies that make up the TPC Model. Assistance will be provided in the form of a “site coordinator” who will provide advice, facilitation, and access to other project resources such as cross-site exchanges, and access to a network of practitioners from the original eight TPC sites. The project will also include the support of an evaluation specialist from the technical assistance team to guide each participating jurisdiction’s efforts to design and implement a measurement and evaluation strategy.

To hear and see a recording of a webinar, held on July 16, 2009, for potential applicants to have their questions answered about the initiative and the application process, click here. To download and view a PDF of the presentation from the webinar, click here.

Collaborative partnerships involving a state’s key correctional agencies—agencies responsible for prisons, for discretionary release/setting of conditions/responses to violations of post-release supervision, and post release supervision—are welcome to apply. For more detailed information about this exciting initiative, and to access the solicitation and proposal requirements, please visit the National Institute of Corrections Web site at http://www.nicic.gov/TPCModel. For a copy of the application kit click here. The application can be filled out electronically, however, applications must be printed and mailed in hard copy to the address noted in the kit.

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Sex Offender Registry Laws: Based on Science or Fallacy?

2009-07-21T20:19:00.001-07:00

Sex Offender Registry has been under much scrutiny here lately as discussed on Grits for Breakfast. Are sex offender laws based on scientific evidence or the appeal to fear fallacy? This literature review will help to answer this question.

Mentally Ill Woman Admits to Setting Fires

2009-07-20T08:44:00.000-07:00

Woman arrested for setting Far East Dallas apartment fire admits to setting other blazes
Yesterday, July 19, 2009, 9:40:33 PM | Scott Goldstein/Reporter
Ebonia Collins suffers from mental illness and had not taken her medication for one month, according to police documents.

Perhaps that is part of the explanation for why she admittedly set a fire that destroyed an entire building in a Far East Dallas apartment complex Thursday evening. She also told Dallas Fire-Rescue investigators that she set two other fires in the Millennium Pointe Apartments in the 2900 block of Dilido Road. One was a mattress fire and the other was a dumpster fire.

Luckily, only one person was hospitalized following the Thursday fire that caused more than $600,000 in damages. A teenage boy hurt himself jumping from his third-floor balcony.

In a rather dramatic scene, Collins was spotted by shouting residents as the fire was still burning Thursday night. Cops, fire officials, residents and news reporters ran after her and she was taken into custody near the scene.

She's in the Dallas County Jail tonight on an arson charge. Her bail was set at $10,000.

Army Documents Link Between Murder and Mental Illness

2009-07-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

Army Documents Link Between Murder and Mental Illness
July 20, 2009

News Summary

Combat stress and behavioral-health problems were underlying causes in most cases where soldiers at a key Army base committed murder after returning from war zones, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported July 15.

The report came after a half-dozen Fort Carson, Colo., soldiers were charged with murder over a six-month period last year. "Soldiers allegedly involved in crimes related to homicide at Fort Carson from 2005-2008 were, in retrospect, at risk for engaging in violent behavior based on a clustering of known risk factors for violence, namely prior criminal behavior and psychopathology," the report said.

Army officials said that a mix of addiction problems, mental illness and leadership failures -- including inadequate attention to identifying and treating soldiers' underlying problems -- contributed to the killings. "Those three in combination are a really toxic mix," said Army surgeon general Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker.

The report also noted a possible correlation between the degree of combat exposure and the likelihood of engaging in violent crime when soldiers return home, although Army officials refuted that connection, noting a broader study showing that 65 percent of crimes committed by Army personnel were attributed to soldiers who had not been to war.

Fort Carson officials said the findings have led to more intense efforts to train personnel to recognize signs of mental illness and ensure that soldiers who test positive for drugs or are identified as problem drinkers get addiction treatment. Most of the soldiers who committed murder in and around the Colorado base had a history of addiction problems, but fewer than half had received treatment, the Army study found.

Prevalence of Serious Mental Illness Among Jail Inmates

2009-07-16T18:47:00.000-07:00

Download pdf.

The current rates of mental illness among inmates in five jails (two in Maryland and three in New York) are investigated. There are 13.5% male and 31.0% female inmates with serious mental illness. While "[t]here is broad consensus that jails are not the optimal settings to provide acute psychiatric treatment . . . the substantial presence of individuals with serious mental illnesses in our country's jails . . . calls for a clearer explication of the contributing factors and discussion of appropriate responses"

Making the case for treatment: Details on the interface between a local care system and the criminal justice system

2009-07-15T19:06:00.000-07:00

Making the case for treatment
Details on the interface between a local care system and the criminal justice system
by Kate K.V. Lawson, MPA; Michael R. Berren, PhD; and Neal Cash, MS

The situation is not uncommon: A family member of an individual with a mental illness calls local law enforcement as a “last resort.” A situation has escalated to the point of being a crisis and, for everyone involved, it appears as though all other options have been exhausted. While the call is generally a last-ditch effort to ensure safety for the individual and/or others, law enforcement’s presence often results in the individual with a mental illness being arrested or detained.

In addition to this scenario, it is not unusual for individuals with a mental illness to become involved in the criminal justice system for crimes that often are a consequence of their illness and/or social situation (such as vagrancy because the individual often has nowhere else to go). They then must manage the difficult task of negotiating a complicated criminal justice system while attempting to reengage in treatment.

The criminalization of mental illness is hardly a new topic. It has been written about for decades, with an article by Abramson (1972) being one of the earliest.1 Following Abramson’s article have been hundreds of others addressing the issue of jails and prisons becoming primary housing facilities for individuals with mental illness. Not only is it a topic of concern for professional publications, the criminalization of people with mental illness regularly is addressed in the popular press. For example, a March 3 blog post on the Dallas Morning News Web site talked about a bill that would prevent local authorities from using “time and convenience” as reasons for incarcerating mental health patients.2

There are a myriad of reasons, however, why using the criminal justice system as a de facto mental health system is inappropriate, including the following.

• Jails and prisons are ill-equipped to serve as mental health facilities. Where statistics are available, inmates with mental illness have higher than average disciplinary rates. A study in Washington State found that while inmates with mental illness constituted nearly 19% of the state's prison population, they accounted for 41% of infractions.3 This leads to the additional issue of inmates with mental illness who have problems with controlling their behavior being disproportionately placed in solitary confinement. Furthermore, solitary confinement is particularly difficult for inmates with mental illness because of limited medical care and the psychologically harmful consequences of isolation and idleness.
• While in detention medications may be discontinued or changed, and the variety of case management, skill building, and clinical services will be limited or eliminated completely.
• Incarceration is an expensive alternative to treatment. While prison can cost quite a bit more, even incarceration at the Pima County (Arizona) jail can cost nearly $100 per day.
• Once an individual’s treatment has been interrupted by incarceration it can be difficult to reengage him/her in services, thereby adding to the long-term costs.
• In addition to the costs to taxpayers and adverse impact on the individual, it is unethical to use incarceration and prison as an alternative to treatment.

Our response
Given all of the reasons for not wanting to inappropriately incarcerate individuals with mental illness, the Community Partnership of Southern Arizona (CPSA) collaborated with its provider network and the criminal justice system to form the Behavioral Health/Criminal Justice System Workgroup. The workgroup’s first task was to identify systemic issues that led to inappropriate incarceration and/or inappropriate length of stay. Following the identification of issues the workgroup began to focus on the strategies and interventions that could be implemented to reduce the time that an individual with a mental illness is inappropriately incarcerated. That is not to say that incarceration is always inappropriate. There are a variety of circumstances in which incarceration might be appropriate to protect an individual from being a danger to him/herself or others, or serve as an intervention before more serious destabilization occurs. Furthermore, incarceration may become a “wake-up call” for the individual as to the consequences of not properly managing his/her illness.

One of the workgroup’s primary outcomes was creating the CPSA Criminal Justice Team, established to be a resource and link between the justice and treatment systems. The team works with behavioral healthcare provider agencies (each of which was mandated to employ a criminal justice specialist) and other stakeholders, such as courts, probation officers, pre-trial services, the jail, police departments, and attorneys, to facilitate resolutions of both system-wide and member-specific issues.

To have a positive impact on inappropriate incarceration, the collaborative relationship between the various behavioral healthcare and justice entities must allow for information to pass quickly and efficiently, while at the same time observing applicable HIPAA rules and regulations. Contrary to popular belief, HIPAA rules do not necessarily have to be a barrier for communication between criminal justice and behavioral healthcare agencies. Rather, it can provide tools to aid in cross-system information sharing.

For example, when an individual is detained in the jail, time is of the essence in transmitting critical behavioral healthcare information from the treatment provider in the community to the treatment provider in the jail. Failure to do so can result in further destabilization and crisis for the individual, thereby increasing risk of injury to the individual (including suicide), other inmates, and jail staff.

Collaborative strategies
The three most commonly used tools to share CPSA member-specific information within the Criminal Justice Team includes the following.

Provider-to-provider information sharing. To identify in real time clients who have just been arrested, twice a day the “booking list” of the county is filtered against the CPSA member roster. When a match is identified the Criminal Justice Team sends a notification to the criminal justice specialist at the behavioral healthcare agency, notifying him/her that a client in his/her network has been arrested. This real-time notification includes the charges, the client’s enrollment status within the behavioral healthcare system (SMI, substance abuse, etc.), the assigned court or jurisdiction, and the next court date. The Criminal Justice Team also notifies the contracted healthcare provider at the jail that an inmate in its custody is enrolled in the community behavioral healthcare system.

A recent enhancement to the Criminal Justice Team initiative is to have a CPSA criminal justice team member attend the initial appearance court hearings (at which a judge determines conditions of release, if any, and informs the individual of the charges). The team member’s participation allows for:

• A universal consent form (discussed below) to be signed
• An assessment to determine the individual’s ability to transport him/herself home and to treatment
• Information sharing with pre-trial services and the presiding judge

For individuals not enrolled in the treatment system, the criminal justice team member facilitates the enrollment process and timeliness of having the person seen by a treatment provider. This recently implemented process has significantly increased the likelihood that the individual may avoid being taken into custody.

If a CPSA-enrolled member is taken into custody, CPSA provider agencies are contractually required to submit to the jail healthcare provider clinical information, including medications the individual is taking, case management notes, and any other information deemed relevant. CPSA’s pharmacy staff also send the most recent pharmacy information to the jail’s healthcare provider. The jail healthcare provider, in turn, places individuals with mental illness on a specialized caseload, which allows them to be housed in acute or subacute mental health “pods” within the jail, if needed.

On a weekly basis the CPSA Criminal Justice Team members, the behavioral healthcare agencies’ criminal justice specialists from, and the mental healthcare provider meet to discuss general issues and conduct staffing and discharge planning for inmates enrolled in the behavioral healthcare system. Individuals who have been identified as having a mental illness but not enrolled in CPSA may be referred/evaluated for enrollment while in custody. The team may coordinate transportation for individuals too unstable to leave the jail unassisted or assessment for court-ordered treatment for those who meet the legal criteria of danger to self, danger to others, persistently or acute disabled, or gravely disabled.

Universal consent form. The Criminal Justice Team developed and implemented use of an information-sharing universal consent form accepted by all providers in the CPSA system and readily used by all criminal justice entities, including court officials, attorneys, probation officers, and law enforcement. While a consent form is not required for all information-sharing activities (e.g., as ordered by a judge or to the healthcare provider at the jail), using the form not only establishes a recognition for the individual’s privacy, but also lets the individual know of every agency with whom his/her information will be shared and for what purpose. The form permits the Criminal Justice Team and providers to share real-time information, which may change daily depending on the person’s stability and criminal case processing. It also permits communication with multiple justice entities when cases are pending in more than one court or jurisdiction.

Mental health courts and judicial orders. A standardized judicial order for sharing healthcare information typically is used in the specialty mental health courts by judges who have received behavioral health training and understand these orders’ legal and medical implications. Standardized orders permit a level of sharing and collaboration that is even greater than allowed through the universal consent form. CPSA co-sponsored mental health courts are examples for how collaboration between various social service and criminal justice entities benefits the stakeholders, community and, most importantly, the CSPA members. CPSA has active mental health courts in five jurisdictions, as well as a consolidated justice court and felony superior court. Members enrolled in a mental health court have been found to be more compliant with treatment, resolve criminal charges more efficiently and effectively, and commit fewer new offenses. These outcomes result in improved public safety, cost savings to taxpayers, and better outcomes for our members.

Systemic strategies
HIPAA-compliant mechanisms for sharing member-specific information is only part of the process used by the community to make the most appropriate use of the criminal justice system as it concerns mental health patients. There are also a number of strategies to impact system-wide issues. Other collaborations that CPSA coordinates, or is an active participant in, include:

• Pima County Forensic Task Force
• Mental health court steering committee
• Crisis intervention training with law enforcement
• Court-specific collaborative committees

As a result of these collaborations, Southern Arizona has developed standards and ethics that value progressive programs that positively impact individuals with mental illness involved in the criminal justice system.

Kate K.V. Lawson, MPA, is the Criminal Justice Manager at the Community Partnership of Southern Arizona (CPSA), the regional behavioral health authority coordinating and managing publicly funded behavioral health services in Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Pima, and Santa Cruz Counties. Michael R. Berren, PhD, is CPSA’s Director of System Development and a clinical lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Arizona. Neal Cash, MS, is President/CEO of CPSA. For more information, e-mail michael.berren@cpsa-rbha.org.

References
1. Abramson MF. The criminalization of mentally disordered behavior: possible side-effect of a new mental health law. Hosp Community Psychiatry 1972;23(4):101-5.
2. Ramshaw E. Keeping mental health patients out of jail [blog post]. Dallas Morning News. March 3, 2009. http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/03/keeping-mental-health-patients.html.
3. Fellner J. A corrections quandary: mental illness and prison rules. Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review 2006;41(2):391-412. http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/crcl/vol41_2/fellner.pdf.

Denial Of Care

2009-07-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

Denial of care
From the Houston Chronicle

If you are a mentally ill Houston adult without financial resources, getting arrested and locked up at the Harris County jail may be your quickest route to government-funded treatment.

Ever fewer hospital beds and services are available for such patients, and the closing of state institutions has forced thousands of them onto the streets, swelling the ranks of the homeless. For those in need, the jail has become the biggest single provider of mental health care in the area. Unfortunately, it comes with an arrest record.

And the situation is getting worse. A dwindling number of Texas psychiatrists provides compassionate help to mentally ill adults. Because of an archaic Medicaid regulation, those doctors are now being discouraged from dispensing it.

At the root of the problem is the original Medicaid legislation passed in 1965, at a time when many patients with serious mental illnesses were committed to state institutions, making short-term stays in private facilities an expensive, and little used, option. Those between the ages of 21 and 65 could not qualify for Medicaid coverage of mental health treatment delivered by physicians in private hospitals.

Since then the discovery and use of a new generation of pharmaceuticals has made hospitalization to establish a drug regimen for use in a home setting far more common. Unfortunately, the law has not kept up with the times and such care is beyond the reach of those without insurance. As a result of that restriction, Texas Health and Human Services Commission officials have sent demand letters to nearly 200 psychiatrists and institutions demanding return of Medicaid payments made in error. The totals range from $1,000 to $130,000.

The state is billing Texas physicians for the money because a federal audit found $1.67 million in improper payments made from 2001-2007.

Dr. George Santos, president of the Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians, told the Chronicle's Todd Ackerman that the penalties will discourage mental health care professionals from treating indigent patients. Currently, there are only about 40 psychiatrists in Texas who do so.

“It is already difficult finding psychiatrists to treat patients in a hospital setting,” explained Dr. Santos. “Now, the few remaining are being punished for taking these patients.”

As Congress debates health care reform this year, lawmakers need to amend the outdated Medicaid regulations to reopen the doors of private hospitals and doctors' offices to a large segment of the mentally ill population who need better treatment options than simply going to jail.

DC Public Defender's Office Provides Their Process for Competency Procedures

2009-07-14T20:30:00.000-07:00

Click here for the powerpoint presentation.

Law, Procedure, and Advocacy Concerning Pretrial Evaluation of Criminal Defendants for Competence to Stand Trial - PDS Summer Series, July 24, 2007
Presenters: Dave Norman and Janet Mitchell

Restoration of Competency to Stand Trial: A Training Program for Persons With Mental Retardation

2009-07-14T20:17:00.000-07:00

This article describes the development and use of a formal training tool for restoration of competency in clients with mental retardation who are incompetent to stand trial. The program was developed at Eleanor Slater Hospital within the Rhode Island Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals. This article describes the development of The Slater Method, the training tool format, the procedure for use of the Slater Method, and the duration of treatment to restore competency to stand trial in clients with mental retardation. Although the developmentally disabled population is not limited to persons with mental retardation, we have used the phrase
mental retardation instead of developmentally disabled because the judicial system more commonly uses mental retardation.

2009-07-14T19:46:00.000-07:00

The effect of Texas' implementation of a "justice reinvestment strategy to increase public safety and reduce spending on corrections" is explained (p. 1). Sections of this bulletin include: highlights of findings; Texas's growing prison population in 2007; description of the Justice Reinvestment Initiative enacted in 2007; implementation of the Initiative; implementation status; prison population trends 2007-2009; 2009 prison population projections; actual population at calendar year end compared to projected population of January 2007 before the Initiative; and challenges faced by the Texas Legislature to maintain an effective correctional system.

Download the report.

Download the presentation.

Read Representative Jerry Madden's statement to the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, Appropriations Subcommittee, U.S. House of Representatives.

Jail Diversion for the Mentally Ill: Breaking Through the Barriers

2009-07-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

Click here for the pdf.
A conference was held on April 2, 1990 that brought together mental health, correctional, and law enforcement professionals to address issues surrounding the mentally ill person who comes in contact with the local jail. Research and program reviews from which the conference deliberations developed are provided. Four categories identified and examined are: screening and evaluation; crisis intervention; treatment; and transfer/discharge planning.

One Year Out: Tracking the Experiences of Male Prisoners Returning to Houston, Texas

2009-07-14T19:03:00.000-07:00

Click here for the report from The Urban Institute.
The experiences of prisoners during the year following their release are recounted. Topics discussed include: overview of the reentry experience; characteristics of returning prisoners; family status; preprison histories; in-prison experiences; moment of release; housing and community; family relationships and support; substance use; employment, income, and debt; health; postrelease program participation; parole mandatory supervision; reoffending and reincarnation; understanding reentry success and failure; and implications.

Interview with NAMI's Sam Cochran Criminal Justice Award Recipient, Judge Manley

2009-07-14T18:57:00.000-07:00

The Criminal Justice Symposium at last week’s NAMI Convention in San Francisco featured excellent presentations by Judge Stephen V. Manley of Santa Clara County’s Mental Health Court and Kathleen Connolly-Lacey who co-founded San Francisco’s Behavioral Health Court. Santa Clara’s Mental Health Court is the largest such court in the nation, serving 1,600 individuals with mental illness and substance abuse disorders, most of whom have been charged with felonies. San Francisco’s Behavioral Court is a collaboration in the best sense of the word between the court system and the mental health system. Individuals served by the Court (also primarily charged with felonies) have access to an array of services, including Assertive Community Treatment, supportive housing, and supported employment.

A particularly moving moment occurred when Judge Manley introduced a young woman who was a graduate of his Court five years ago. Since her arrest and diversion, she has made great progress in recovery, has moved to Albuquerque, NM and was attending the NAMI Convention as a representative of NAMI-New Mexico. She later told me that she believes that Judge Manley’s compassion and support “saved my life.”

Prior to speaking at the Convention, Judge Manley, this year’s recipient of NAMI’s Sam Cochran Criminal Justice Award, stopped by the studio’s of KQED, Northern California’s public radio station, and gave an interview about the Santa Clara Court. Here is a link to that interview.

http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R907090850/a

Thanks to Judge Manley and Ms. Connolly-Lacey for their excellent presentations and for compassion and strong commitment to recovery for people with mental illnesses.

Dallas police keeping closer tabs on downtown's repeat offenders

2009-07-09T17:34:00.000-07:00

12:00 AM CDT on Thursday, July 9, 2009

By TANYA EISERER / The Dallas Morning News
teiserer@dallasnews.com

The Dallas Police Department is tracking repeat offenders who commit most of the petty crime in the downtown area.

Currently, 157 men and women are on the list, police officials said. About 50 are behind bars or are in some kind of alternative treatment program such as a mental institution.

"These are our biggest recidivists who go through the revolving door of the criminal justice system," said Deputy Chief Vince Golbeck, commander of the central patrol division, which includes the central business district.

Several months ago, the city and county kicked off a pilot program to deal with downtown's repeat offenders, many of whom are homeless and mentally ill.

"Many of these individuals are getting picked up on lesser charges such as public intoxication, sleeping in public or urinating in public," said Officer Eric Tabbert, who compiles the list. "But they are also the same individuals doing the more serious stuff."

Tabbert said he reviews police reports and arrests from the downtown area every morning, in part, to look for repeat offenders who need to be added to the list. That information is given to patrol officers as well as downtown security directors.

Each week, he also sends an updated list to the county mental health department for them to determine who might benefit from mental health services. He also works with the Dallas County district attorney's office to ensure that repeat offenders who need it are recommended for higher bail amounts and longer sentences.

Occupying the top spot on the list is Keith Brooks, a 43-year-homeless man repeatedly convicted of criminal trespass and drug possession. Brooks is in the Dallas County Jail being held on a charge of felony harassment of a public servant.

"We've been dealing with him for years," Tabbert said.

"I am personally seeing that some of these folks who may have been in jail for only 10 or 15 days are getting six months because of their impact offender status," Tabbert said. "That's a whole lot longer time that they won't be out plying their trade."

He said the program is needed because downtown police officers believe The Bridge, Dallas' homeless assistance center opened May 2008, has added to the downtown homeless problem.

"We're seeing new faces," Tabbert said. "They're hearing about this, and they're making their way to Texas."