Identifying Key Factors #Two: Wherein research concerning critical problems in Arizona's administrative system lends itself to understanding the need for serious and deep reform in the state's behavioral health care system and its affiliated agencies.
"The startled mind is a dangerous thing when not given room to stretch one's legs."
(Salvador Dali, La Morca Dias Prieta)
Following my recent years in the Arizona behavioral health care system, I have come to the undeniable conclusion that Arizona can be a really frightening place to exist. This applies to any number citizen groups in this state, but it is perhaps no more intense than in the case of mentally ill people, for many of us are simply not able to meaningful stand up for ourselves; this might be due to the distinct complications of our given disorder, or perhaps, to our limited legal status (in terms of cognitive competence and/or related guardianship), but in any case, the graphic marginalization of mentally ill adults manifests most deeply in the underbelly of the state system itself, rather than in our homes or on the streets, in fact. State facilities of any kind are in no way safe havens for such individuals, and The Arizona State Hospital is no exception to this fact. But as matter of seeking some level of understanding about the atrocious conditions at ASH, I am always looking at related aspects of the Arizona system because it is obvious that the fundamental wrongdoing at ASH and beyond is all connected.
With this line of inquiry in mind, I will mention that there was an interesting story in today's Arizona Republic newspaper (May 25, 2012) concerning the arguably brutal conditions at the Maricopa County jail (Phoenix), which is run by longtime county Sheriff Joe Arpaio (see image above). Now, this man Joe Arpaio, of course, is currently being sued- again- by the Department of Justice Office for Civil Rights, this time in relation to extensively documented racial discrimination in his office; and as might be expected, this latest article about constitutionally banned mismanagement at the county jail also relates information with respect for the impacts of the conditions there on mentally ill adults who far too often find themselves mired down in the local legal system.
Almost every patient at ASH that I came to know well had some degree of experience in jail somewhere. In fact, behaviorally and emotionally unstable adults so commonly have conflicts with law enforcement authorities, that jail time and mental illness are often synonymous, this despite the reality that nine times out of ten, the actual incident requiring police response stemmed from some nature of psychotic break or other like crisis; but regardless of whether or not the individual was legitimately guilty of any sort of crime at the time of their arrest, it often takes days into weeks, weeks into months, and sometimes even years for many of these mentally ill individuals to come into direct contact with psychiatric resources of any kind.
It is notable, too, that the Arizona county jails essentially represent that same point in the system where incarcerated mentally ill African Americans so clearly fall between the cracks, and very disproportionately find themselves sent to prison, rather than being granted access to long term psychiatric services through the state's behavioral health care system. As I noted in a recent article of my own (see May 11, 2012: "On Racial Discrimination...."), non-African American adults receive treatment at The Arizona State Hospital at approximately twelve (12) times the frequency that African Americans do.
The article (see below) that I mentioned from today's Arizona Republic newspaper was written by crack reporter JJ Hensley, who with my assistance previously reported Jesus Murietta's escape from ASH and April Mott's brutal murder [see AZ Republic "Victim's Family Questions Why Man Was Free" September 28, 2011]), and it reveals disturbing new data about one of the most critically mismanaged aspects of the Arizona legal system, this with specific respect for mentally ill adults who find themselves incarcerated by place and subsequently in the hands of jail workers and Arizona prosecutors.
Note: While the below article does acknowledge certain improvements in conditions at the Maricopa County jail, the findings also clarify ongoing discrimination against the rights and needs of any mentally ill adult who might happen to wind up there, which further verifies my concerns about Arizona's failure to meets its fundamental obligations as per its own (state) constitution, which is in violation of the public trust. There is no justification to allow for mentally ill adults being treated like common criminals simply because the state's legal and medical administrations aren't capable of managing these matters in a humane way, but as the article makes clear, the mentally ill individuals passing through the county jail are still being abused at this time.
Judge: MCSO jail conditions better.
Sheriff's Office's improvements end court-ordered oversight
JJ Hensley - May. 24, 2012 The Republic | azcentral.com
But officials will have to work within those restrictions to improve access to medical and mental-health care if they want to emerge from under that portion of Wake's judgment, said an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison Project, which represents the inmates.
"The startled mind is a dangerous thing when not given room to stretch one's legs."
(Salvador Dali, La Morca Dias Prieta)
Following my recent years in the Arizona behavioral health care system, I have come to the undeniable conclusion that Arizona can be a really frightening place to exist. This applies to any number citizen groups in this state, but it is perhaps no more intense than in the case of mentally ill people, for many of us are simply not able to meaningful stand up for ourselves; this might be due to the distinct complications of our given disorder, or perhaps, to our limited legal status (in terms of cognitive competence and/or related guardianship), but in any case, the graphic marginalization of mentally ill adults manifests most deeply in the underbelly of the state system itself, rather than in our homes or on the streets, in fact. State facilities of any kind are in no way safe havens for such individuals, and The Arizona State Hospital is no exception to this fact. But as matter of seeking some level of understanding about the atrocious conditions at ASH, I am always looking at related aspects of the Arizona system because it is obvious that the fundamental wrongdoing at ASH and beyond is all connected.
With this line of inquiry in mind, I will mention that there was an interesting story in today's Arizona Republic newspaper (May 25, 2012) concerning the arguably brutal conditions at the Maricopa County jail (Phoenix), which is run by longtime county Sheriff Joe Arpaio (see image above). Now, this man Joe Arpaio, of course, is currently being sued- again- by the Department of Justice Office for Civil Rights, this time in relation to extensively documented racial discrimination in his office; and as might be expected, this latest article about constitutionally banned mismanagement at the county jail also relates information with respect for the impacts of the conditions there on mentally ill adults who far too often find themselves mired down in the local legal system.
Almost every patient at ASH that I came to know well had some degree of experience in jail somewhere. In fact, behaviorally and emotionally unstable adults so commonly have conflicts with law enforcement authorities, that jail time and mental illness are often synonymous, this despite the reality that nine times out of ten, the actual incident requiring police response stemmed from some nature of psychotic break or other like crisis; but regardless of whether or not the individual was legitimately guilty of any sort of crime at the time of their arrest, it often takes days into weeks, weeks into months, and sometimes even years for many of these mentally ill individuals to come into direct contact with psychiatric resources of any kind.
It is notable, too, that the Arizona county jails essentially represent that same point in the system where incarcerated mentally ill African Americans so clearly fall between the cracks, and very disproportionately find themselves sent to prison, rather than being granted access to long term psychiatric services through the state's behavioral health care system. As I noted in a recent article of my own (see May 11, 2012: "On Racial Discrimination...."), non-African American adults receive treatment at The Arizona State Hospital at approximately twelve (12) times the frequency that African Americans do.
The article (see below) that I mentioned from today's Arizona Republic newspaper was written by crack reporter JJ Hensley, who with my assistance previously reported Jesus Murietta's escape from ASH and April Mott's brutal murder [see AZ Republic "Victim's Family Questions Why Man Was Free" September 28, 2011]), and it reveals disturbing new data about one of the most critically mismanaged aspects of the Arizona legal system, this with specific respect for mentally ill adults who find themselves incarcerated by place and subsequently in the hands of jail workers and Arizona prosecutors.
Note: While the below article does acknowledge certain improvements in conditions at the Maricopa County jail, the findings also clarify ongoing discrimination against the rights and needs of any mentally ill adult who might happen to wind up there, which further verifies my concerns about Arizona's failure to meets its fundamental obligations as per its own (state) constitution, which is in violation of the public trust. There is no justification to allow for mentally ill adults being treated like common criminals simply because the state's legal and medical administrations aren't capable of managing these matters in a humane way, but as the article makes clear, the mentally ill individuals passing through the county jail are still being abused at this time.
Judge: MCSO jail conditions better.
Sheriff's Office's improvements end court-ordered oversight
JJ Hensley - May. 24, 2012 The Republic | azcentral.com
A pair of court-appointed experts visited the jails in April. While they noted the increased staffing levels and reduced mortality rates in the jails, the experts still had serious concerns about inmates' access to mental-health care and the ability of detention officers, nurses, doctors and psychiatrists to communicate with each other.
One expert also reviewed the case of Ernest "Marty" Atencio, who died in December after Phoenix police and Maricopa County detention officers had an altercation with Atencio at the Fourth Avenue Jail and deployed a Taser. Atencio's case highlights the need for more training, particularly when patients with potential mental illness or those going through drug or alcohol withdrawal come into the system.
Some of those issues will be addressed when the county installs an electronic health-record system, the report notes, and others are the result of inherent flaws in the way mentally ill inmates are treated.
"The sheriff, like the county, as defendants, are required to comply with the medical and mental-health provisions of the judgment. As of now, neither the sheriff nor the county are in compliance with those," said Gabe Eber. "The court has treated them both as co-defendants. There are clearly areas the sheriff needs to be involved in. ... There are going to be areas of access to care where the sheriff needs to cooperate with CHS and make changes."
"(Correctional Health Services) has investigated many options/opportunities to secure more timely access to psychiatric hospitalization but have been stymied by the bounds of Arizona's civil commitment laws, local court interpretation, criminal court processes, defense attorney strategy and frankly, the larger political decision of the courts/counties to use the jail rather than a psychiatric hospital for competency assessment and restoration," wrote Kathryn Burns, a court-appointed expert.IN CLOSING: The "inherent flaws in how mentally ill inmates are treated" (cited above) at the jail falls nothing short of blatant discrimination against these citizens on the basis of their disability, for as seriously mentally ill persons, they are to be protected and served in full accordance of federal and state laws applicable to them as vulnerable/at-risk adults. These fundamental standards of care also apply in any public facility, including ASH, but my experience has proven that patients at ASH are actually more at risk there in the Hospital itself than they are out in the "real world", because there is no meaningful oversight or related accountability within the structure of ASH' administrative system of authority, while on the outside one can at least rely upon immediate access to phone lines to the police, as well as rely upon other resources in the community who are able and willing to provide care and safety related issues.
The manner in which patients at Arizona State Hospital are treated, which is clearly something that needs to be resolved, because the citizens of Arizona deserve to know that ASH is a safe haven for its client-patients, and not the opposite. But as described in my May 11, 2012, article concerning the graphic racial disparity and clearly racial discrimination at The Arizona State Hospital, the issues of patient abuse at ASH extends far beyond the realm of abuse that I either witnessed or was personally subjected to while hospitalized in that specific facility between January, 2011, and February, 2012. The state of Arizona's entire system of administrative authority is clearly broken in terms of services specific to the needs and rights of mentally ill adults, and I firmly believe that only federal intervention will bring about serious reform in relation these matters as a whole.
Please do everything you can today to come to the aid of Arizona's deeply at risk mentally ill patients at the Arizona state Hospital. Please see my April 08, 2012 "Resource Ideas" article, and figure out a way to get involved now. Patient abuse at ASH is inhumane and ongoing. Let's put a stop to it once and for all.
paoloreed@gmail.com
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I would really love input of any kind from anybody with any interest whatsoever in the issues that I am sharing in this blog. I mean it, anybody, for I will be the first one to admit that I may be inaccurately depicting certain aspects of the conditions
at ASH, and anonymous comments are fine. In any case, I am more than willing to value anybody's feelings about my writing, and I assure you that I will not intentionally exploit or otherwise abuse your right to express yourself as you deem fit. This topic is far, far too important for anything less. Thank you, whoever you are. Peace and Frogs.