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Jail diversion effort established

MARQUETTE — A grant recently awarded to Pathways Community Mental Health could reduce the amount of mentally ill individuals behind bars, helping redirect them from the criminal justice system to community-based treatment programs more suitable to their personal needs.

The $260,000 grant awarded by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services will fund the creation of a jail diversion program in Marquette County.

Lynn Johnson, crisis services supervisor for Pathways, said the grant money will specifically be used to construct two jail diversion cells in the Marquette County Jail facility, and will also provide funding for staffing of the facility for a limited time.

“Ultimately, we want to see fewer people with severe mental illness in jail,” Johnson said. “It’s really a tough fit for both the individual that’s incarcerated and the people who are responsible for caring for them.”

Johnson said individuals who partake in criminal behavior that are displaying symptoms of a physiciatric condition would be taken to the jail diversion section of the jail by authorities, and then assessed by a Pathways representative to determine based on the individual’s needs how to proceed.

“We’re able to triage people and assess people to determine what the best course of action would be to best meet the safety needs of the community and the treatment needs of the individual,” Johnson said. “It gives them another option other than going straight to jail or straight to the emergency room.”

It will also serve as a time-saver for law enforcement, said Marquette County Sheriff Greg Zyburt.

“It will allow the road officers to get back on the road instead of going to the hospital and sitting with this person for four, five, six hours until they get analyzed,” Zyburt said.

Zyburt, who’s been in law enforcement for more than 30 years, said this program is much-needed, estimating that about 30 percent of people in the county’s jail suffer from some sort of mental illness.

“It’s a huge step for the state of Michigan, they’re finally starting to realize this is an issue throughout the state and the whole country,” he said. “The jails are, I hate to say it, a dumping ground for the mentally ill, and the correctional officers aren’t trained. They’re not specialized.”

Johnson agreed, stating Marquette County has a disproportionate percentage of people with severe mental illness in jail.

“I think any community that has a jail has a vested interest in finding effective means for reducing the number of people with severe mental illness that are incarcerated,” he said, adding that Marquette’s size, geographical location and availability of psychiatric services play into those numbers.

“We encounter this phenomenon more frequently than some other communities in our region,” he said. “(Jail diversion) is a good idea for anybody, but it’s certainly an important thing to consider for a community like Marquette.”

In addition to connecting individuals with local mental health care services and enhancing the safety of the community, the program could also decrease recidivism rates specific to this population.

“Over and over, we see the same people coming through our jail,” said Zyburt. “We need to help them get the help they need.”

Marquette County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Diane Heitman said most of the cases that come through her office involve subjects who are mentally ill, were abused at a young age or are into substances — or a combination of all three.

Receiving the correct treatment right away can make a huge difference in the life of an individual with a mental disorder, leading to much better outcomes for them personally and for the community in which they live, she said.

“Jail is not the place for them,” she said.

Once someone is incarcerated for a crime, she added, it’s difficult to get them out of the criminal justice system, too.

“When someone gets arrested, it’s not an easy process getting all the documents signed,” she said. “That can take some time before they go through. With this, they may not have to go through the court process. … It’s a bonus for everybody because that costs society a lot more than this would.”

The jail diversion program, which is part of a larger pilot initiative that began in 2014, also hits several other points of intercept, Johnson said.

A jail liaison works with police to answer questions and connect them with people in the mental health community.

“They’ve been helping the law enforcement community access crisis intervention team training so they can have the extra tools in their toolbox to support people with severe mental illness as they’re engaging in their typical duties,” Johnson said. “It helps people get linked to services quicker, to be diverted from incarceration and it keeps people safer.”

Moral reconation therapy, which helps individuals improve their level of moral reasoning so they’re able to think things through more effectively before engaging in criminal behavior, is also addressed.

“(The liaison) also will help people with severe mental illness that are starting to get in trouble with the law navigate a very complicated mental health care system so they can be linked to the services they need,” Johnson said.

The Marquette County Board last week supported Pathways and the grant initiative, but wished to learn more about potential long-term financial impact to the county.

Johnson said the program is in its infancy, and is a “work in progress.”

“There’s more detail and more specificity we’ll be able to share with the public as we get them,” he said.

Kelsie Thompson can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 206. Her email address is kthompson@miningjournal.net.

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