SR1824 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has been a strong proponent for necessary reforms to the criminal justice system and an advocate for successful re-entry of returning citizens to their communities; and

WHEREAS, The prison population is disproportionately comprised of African-American and Latino persons, with one in every 13 African-American males in the United States aged 30 to 34 incarcerated or imprisoned in 2011 and one in 36 Latino males incarcerated; by comparison, one in every 90 white males of the same age group were incarcerated; and

WHEREAS, African-American and Latino women were 2.5 times more likely and 1.4 times more likely respectively, to be incarcerated than their white counterparts; and

WHEREAS, The expenses of incarceration account for a substantial amount of almost every state's budget, an expense which is ultimately borne by a state's taxpayers; and

WHEREAS, According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than half of those incarcerated in the United States have mental health issues; mentally-ill incarcerated or imprisoned adults are also disproportionately abused, beaten, and raped; and

WHEREAS, Enhanced mental health training for law enforcement personnel and the use of diversion programs will reduce arrest rates by de-escalating mental health crisis situations; and

WHEREAS, Effectively treating inmates' physical and mental health illnesses improves their well-being and can reduce the likelihood that their condition will deteriorate, that they will commit new crimes, violate their parole, or return to prison; and

WHEREAS, The ability of offenders with serious mental illness to obtain appropriate health care services upon release from prison is essential to reducing recidivism rates; and

WHEREAS, Prisoners with serious mental illness who have their Medicaid coverage canceled rather than suspended upon incarceration face delays in access to essential health care benefits upon their release of two to three months; and

WHEREAS, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services encourages states to suspend rather than terminate Medicaid eligibility to limit long delays in accessing health care benefits and services upon release from prison; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge all federal, State, and county legislators and officials to consider and enact policies to enhance access to mental health services at multiple levels in the criminal justice system which will create better results for both the individual and the system; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we support a wide range of programs to improve mental health treatment for individuals involved in the criminal justice system aimed to aid communities to end recidivism; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the law enforcement community to consider the integration of mental health treatment and services such as crisis intervention teams into the criminal justice system spectrum, in an effort to address mental health crisis situations and to reduce arrest rates; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we call upon all states and the federal government to examine the costs and benefits of suspending Medicaid coverage instead of termination of coverage for individuals in the criminal justice system and to allow Medicaid coverage to be suspended for incarcerated persons instead of being terminated; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we call upon the states and the federal government to consider promising criminal justice interventions and policies for mentally-ill offenders such as diversion programs and mental health courts to send seriously mentally ill offenders to community-based mental health treatment programs instead of prison or jail; and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be delivered to the President and Vice President of the United States, the members of the Illinois congressional delegation, and other federal and state government officials and agencies as appropriate.