DOG DAYS OF SUMMER
In October 2005, Steven Jessie Harris was accused of committing a crime spree that included murder, kidnapping, carjacking and engaging police in a gunfight.
The incident led to a long list of charges, and the way it played out over the next 11 years left many questioning problems in both the mental health and criminal justice systems.
Harris stood accused of killing his father, stabbing a Mississippi State student in a carjacking and kidnapping the passenger in the vehicle. After leading deputies on a chase, Harris was also accused of getting in a shootout with police that left three Clay County Sheriff’s deputies and himself wounded.
The Clay County native - who was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2007 - would then spend the next 11 years in the Clay County Jail before being transferred to the East Mississippi State Hospital last June.
The charges against Harris were ultimately dropped in late July, but not after many claimed Harris was just one of many that slipped through the cracks of Mississippi’s underfunded mental health system.
Harris is still voluntarily committed, but options are limited in a state with no long-term mental health facility.
Budget cuts face several statewide departments, shifting the financial burden to local governments and agencies. Few areas have suffered from the budget shortfalls as much as mental health.
Mental health spending has been steadily slashed by state lawmakers, most recently manifesting in the elimination of 650 positions at the Mississippi Department of Mental Health (DMH).
The Starkville Daily News caught up with officials to get a better understanding of how a case like Harris’ could happen, and what is being done to mitigate budget-related issues and the impact had on mental health and the criminal justice system. FEELING THE CUTS
The DMH reported in May 2016 it would see funding reductions for FY2017, with cuts of approximately 4.4 percent, or $8.3 million, in state support funds.
The recent cuts came on the heels of a 1.5 percent cut in state support funds from the previous year.
Jody Owens, director of the Mississippi office for the Southern Poverty Law Center, told the SDN when a system does not have enough resources funding mental health, it results in more people being pushed into the criminal justice system.
“If there aren’t enough beds for people to even be evaluated at a psychiatric ward or at the state hospital, it leaves them waiting in violation of their due process rights in the county jails, waiting for someone to determine if they are even competent for trial,” Owens said.
Owens went on to say the Harris case is symptomatic of a state justice and mental health system hobbled by a lack of resources.
“Those people should have been in and out of the system quicker,” Owens said. “You often hear people say the courts are taking too long, but that’s the whole system we have created unfortunately.”
In addition to the 650 positions cut by DMH, the latest round of budget slashing saw the closure of the 29-bed Acute Medical Psychiatric Service and the 42bed Male Chemical Dependency Unit at Mississippi State Hospital in Whitfield, along with the closure of the 25-bed Male Chemical Dependency Unit at East Mississippi State Hospital in Meridian.
Funds for substance abuse treatment services have been drastically reduced statewide, and Oktibbeha County is no exception.
Interim Chancery Court Clerk Sharon Livingston told the SDN legislative cuts removed funding for a male drug and alcohol facility, which gives the local
court system nowhere to send those arrested for drugs or alcohol that may have a mental illness.
“We don’t even do male alcohol and drug commitments,” Livingston said. “The family has to put them in a private facility at the family’s charge.”
While Oktibbeha County lacks the necessary services for men, funding is still in place for the drug and alcohol program for women.
However, Livingston said funding for the women’s drug and alcohol program could also be in jeopardy if the legislature decides to take another financial approach.
“We’re worried about it, but we’re just going to take it day by day,” Livingston said. “Hopefully, some more money will start coming in so there won’t have to be any more cuts.”
Starkville Police Chief R. Frank Nichols has seen the evolution of law enforcement’s approach to mental health issues during his career, and has also seen firsthand the impact of a razorthin state mental health budget.
Nichols explained in an interview with the SDN how state budget cuts shaped the local approach to dealing with criminal suspects with mental illnesses.
When asked if budget cuts impacted the way his department operates, Nichols said “It has, but not from a standpoint of department-wide.”
“We used to have a crisis team that we partnered with Community Counseling and that crisis team dissolved,” Nichols said. “From their standpoint, I don’t know what happened. Was it budget cuts? Was it personnel issues? I don’t know. But we are in the process of trying to reestablish that team.”
Nichols said his department has received a wealth of support from the city, and said the personnel is in place for the crisis team if the state decides to resurrect it.
Mississippi State Hospital Public Relations Director Kathy Denton said people with mental health conditions are no more likely to be violent than anyone else. However, those with violent tendencies require adequate services if they are to be properly detained and treated within their legal rights.
“In fact only 3-5 percent of violent acts can be attributed to individuals living with a serious mental illness,” Denton said. “However, those individuals who are persistently dangerous because of mental illness require comprehensive services in an adequately staffed and funded secure treatment environment.”
LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
Organizations like the SPLC and government entities like the U.S. Department of Justice have ramped up pressure on the state of Mississippi concerning its approach to mental health, but many advocates say the state falls short of accomplishing the goal of tangible mental health reform as it relates to criminal justice.
Owens said what advocates have seen over the last decade are many failed attempts to legislatively remedy the problems facing mental health in Mississippi.
“Every year I think the mental health community has flooded the capital and tried to do more, but unfortunately, it’s not been successful and that’s largely because of the expenses related to it,” Owens said.
State Rep. Rob Roberson, R-Starkville, said in an interview with the SDN many of the state’s problems in mental health funding can be chalked up to the priorities of those individuals making up the legislative body in Jackson.
“Mississippi is one of the poorest states,” Roberson said. “So add that to the problem that we don’t have a whole lot of money to put in to
(mental health).”
While the state’s economic outlook may be bleak, the access to mental health services compounds the problems for those with mental illnesses.
The Northeast Mississippi Area Health Education Center at Mississippi State University reported in recent years that roughly 2.1 million Mississippians reside in a place that can be considered a “mental health shortage area”, with approximately half of that total classified as “underserved.”
Roberson said an investment in mental health in Mississippi would be cheaper in the long run than the problems brought on by the alternative of defunding state programs.
“If we put money into a mental health program and it keeps someone from being put in a state facility or a hospital or worse - keeps somebody from committing a crime - that investment comes back 100-fold because it’s far cheaper to prevent it and help those people with services on the front end, than to be dealing with it on the back end.”
The state has also come under fire from the federal government, with the U.S. Department of Justice filing a lawsuit against the state, claiming:
“The State discriminates against adults with mental illness by administering and funding its programs and services for these individuals in a manner that has resulted in their repeated, prolonged, and unnecessary institutionalization in state-run psychiatric hospitals, and placed them at serious risk of such institutionalization.”
The lawsuit is currently pending, but a lack of funds could ultimately hamstring lawmakers seeking to supplement the system.
Roberson and other experts agree that the problems facing the mental health system in Mississippi are rooted in a lack of resources and in a state with a sluggish economy, saying the problems aren’t likely to be alleviated anytime soon.
“I think it’s resources, but you have to keep in mind there is a segment of our population here in Mississippi that no matter how much tax revenue is coming in, it’s too much,” Roberson said. “But it’s awfully hard for me to say that we’re wasting money in mental health when we are probably spending less than any other state.”
While Roberson said mental health should be a top priority for lawmakers in Jackson, the reality of the situation is each legislator forms their priorities based on the needs of the people and districts they serve.
“Unfortunately, a lot of our membership, whether it’s now or 15 years ago, it’s the same thought process,” Roberson said. “If you’ve not had any dealing with it, it becomes a low priority.”
WHAT’S BEING DONE?
Lawmakers and advocates alike agree there is no quick fix to the state’s problems with mental health and the court system. But efforts are being made to curb issues for individuals before it’s too late.
Denton also answered questions along with District Attorney Scott Colom’s office to shed light on the efforts being made at the state level.
One way to help quell concerns is by the state increasing the provision and availability of community-based mental health treatment services.
“This expansion needs to continue as it provides service recipients with treatment in the most integrated and least restrictive environment,” Denton said. “At the same time, service recipients who are persistently dangerous because of mental illness should be provided increased access to a continuum of treatment to address their needs, including access to both community-based and secure inpatient treatment environments.”
The aforementioned concept would be geared toward helping people like Steven Jessie Harris.
Dr. Grace Kelly, a psychiatrist at East Mississippi State Hospital, said in her report to court officials that Harris responds well to structure and consistent medication.
“I feel the least restrictive environment for Mr. Harris would be that of a group home placement,” Kelly said.
Roberson said remediation is an area where the state could improve, but one that is still restricted financially by mental health spending and local budgets.
“My honest opinion is in terms of dealing with it from a criminal and court system aspect, we haven’t done a really great job of delineating people with problems and helping them get it fixed,” Roberson said. “But there are only so many resources judges, prosecutors and attorneys have to handle these sort of things.”
On a smaller scale at the local level, Livingston said despite the concern over the possibility of more state cuts, the chancery court has the ability to waive certain fees for those with mental illness.
“If you’re not able to pay for a filing fee, you can file for a pauper’s oath,” Livingston said. “This waives the filing fee and doctor’s fee. Our filing fee to file a petition is $148 if you’re not indigent.”
Livingston said taxpayer dollars cover this fee and once the individual is transported to East Mississippi State Hospital in Meridian, they won’t be billed for a hospital stay.
“If I had a magic wand, I would poof up a facility for us to have to keep it in-house,” Livingston said. “That would get them turned over quick.”
In Hinds and Madison counties, the state is also in the process of implementing jail-based competence restoration services.
Denton said with additional funding, the services could be replicated in other counties and work toward reducing the state’s current reliance on inpatient beds.
Additionally, the Mississippi State Hospital and DMH are implementing a training program for community-based competence evaluators.
Many of the aforementioned problems in mental health exist in tandem with substance abuse, which is also being addressed by state officials in a new effort.
Denton said DMH currently has a partnership with the Mississippi Department of Corrections for a pilot project called the Second Chance Re-Entry Program for Adults with Co-Occurring Substance Use and Mental Disorders.
“This project allows for the improved identification of inmates with co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders, providing training to DOC staff, and integrating individuals treatment plans for inmates,” Denton said.
The pilot program is currently focusing on non-violent offenders returning to Hinds County.