WOOSTER -- Recently, a Sheriff's Office deputy responded to a call at the Wayne County Administration Building.
When Sgt. Ryan Koster arrived, he found a man who would not leave the building. For the next 45 minutes, Koster talked with the man. Eventually, Koster and the man left without incident.
When Sheriff Travis Hutchinson met with the county commissioners, they expressed appreciation and praised the way Koster handled and de-escalated the situation.
Hutchinson indicated there was probably some type of mental illness involved, adding county jails are really not the place for people with those kinds of illnesses.
"There's a lot of mental health issues, a lot of suicides," Hutchinson said. "Deputies deal with a lot of tragic events."
The incarceration of those who have mental illnesses is not something isolated in Wayne County or Ohio.
"It's a concern with other sheriffs," Hutchinson said. "All 88 counties are dealing with the same thing."
"The criminalization of the mentally ill is a national problem and, locally, we are not exempt," said Susan Buchwalter, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of The Counseling Center of Wayne and Holmes Counties. "I agree with Sheriff Hutchinson that a jail is not the proper place to hold persons with mental illness, but the Ohio mental health system has been so underfunded for so long that adequate community-based services are often not available or readily accessible."
Since the Great Recession, governmental entities have been dealing with declining revenue, which has prompted cuts to staffing levels, programs and services.
"The organizations supported by the local Mental Health & Recovery Board (of Wayne & Holmes Counties) have not had an increase in their base level of support since 2009, while the demand and need for service has increased significantly," Buchwalter said. "And, on the state level, the number of available inpatient beds for those with the most severe needs has been limited."
To deal with the issue, Hutchinson, Holmes County Sheriff Timothy Zimmerly, the Mental Health & Recovery Board and the Wayne/Holmes Reentry Coalition received a grant to close what Hutchinson calls "corrections' revolving door," because many people with mental illnesses shift back and forth between the criminal justice and behavioral health systems. Because of this, corrections facilities are thrust into a role of addressing mental health issues.
The National Sheriff's Association and Treatment Advocacy Center issued a report in 2010 that concluded "there are now more than three times more seriously mentally ill persons in jails and prisons than in hospitals." This was based on previously unpublished data from 2004-2005. More recent studies put the number at about 16 percent of inmates who have a serious mental illness.
The study did a survey of the states, and for Ohio, the Corrections Center of Northeast Ohio reported 25 percent of inmates were on psychotropic medications in 2009. This accounted for half of the medical budget. In the Lucas County Jail, 23 of the 34 inmates were repeat offenders, according to the report.
In applying for the grant, MHRB Executive Director Judy Wortham Wood noted a consultant working through the National Institute of Corrections recommended that the mentally ill be referred to the hospital emergency room or the psychiatric crisis center for evaluation prior to being accepted into the jail.
In Wayne and Holmes counties, more than 1,500 people incarcerated have a mental illness and/or an addiction, according to the grant proposal. Many serve their time without getting any medical help when they need it. There is also a lot of resources expended in transporting them to and from the Heartland Behavioral Health Center and local emergency rooms.
The aim is to link these people with a community psychiatric supportive treatment service at a local mental health agency. In 2013, 84 percent of patients with severe mental illnesses who had this kind of link were not incarcerated and had no involvement with the criminal justice system.
The Counseling Center is implementing this program that provides mental health professionals to work in the jails in Wayne and Holmes counties, Buchwalter said. "These Counseling Center staff members will assist in identifying incarcerated persons with mental illness or substance abuse issues, provide some on-site intervention while they are in jail and assure that qualifying inmates are linked with appropriate community services and supports upon release.
"Many mentally ill persons leave the jail with nowhere to go and no support system. Sometimes they lack even a state issued identification card which is needed to apply for a job, or access available services. They may need medication to help manage their symptoms. Without a place to live or a source of income, they are often either victimized or reoffend. Our jail staff will make sure those links are made and work to stop that cycle."
Reporter Bobby Warren can be reached at 330-287-1639 or bwarren@the-daily-record.com. He is @BobbyWarrenTDR on Twitter.