ORLANDO – Judge Steve Leifman, who presides over 11th judicial circuit court in Miami-Dade County, Fla., was about to take the bench several years ago when he agreed to see a couple, who then begged him to help their son, who had mental illness. Judge Leifman was about to hear his case.
The man was a Harvard-educated former psychiatrist and at first appeared healthy, but then took on a look of terror and began screaming when the judge asked him a question. Although the man was clearly psychotic, Judge Leifman had no choice but to release him to the streets – he had no authority under the law to involuntarily commit anyone to psychiatric treatment.
There was little doubt that the man would end up committing a crime and being put behind bars.
Judge Leifman, who gave the keynote address at the annual congress of the Schizophrenia International Research Society, now has made it his life’s work to reform a system in which jails are the de facto hospitals for people with mental illness.
he said. “And I don’t know why people aren’t angrier about it.”
He quoted figures that are staggering in their illustration of how mental illness has become criminalized. People with mental illnesses in the United States are 9 times more likely to be incarcerated than hospitalized, and 18 times more likely to find a bed in jail than at a state civil hospital, he said. On any given day, about 400,000 people with mental illness are in jail and 800,000 are under correctional supervision. He said that 40% of all people with mental illness in the United States will at some point come into contact with the criminal justice system.
Together, U.S. counties spend $80 billion a year on correctional costs. States spend an additional $71 billion, he said.
Judge Leifman has helped start an initiative called Stepping Up to lead reform. It’s an effort by the National Association of Counties, American Psychiatric Association Foundation, and the Council of State Government. More than 400 counties over the past few years have passed resolutions saying they’re committed to change.
Judge Leifman organized a summit, with criminal justice and health groups coming together to assess the issue, only to diagnose a system that’s “designed to fail.” Local officials have crafted a new system with links to comprehensive care for people with mental illness that make jail a last resort rather than a first stop. A key component is “crisis intervention team policing,” in which law enforcement officers are trained to identify people with mental illness, deescalate situations, and get them to proper care rather than arrest them. All 36 Miami-Dade County police departments are trained in this program, and it has eased the incarceration and recidivism rates.
“It has been a huge cultural shift,” Judge Leifman said.
“We’ve improved public safety, we’ve reduced police injuries, we’ve helped police officers get back to patrol much quicker, we’ve saved critical tax dollars, we’ve saved lives, and we’ve decriminalized mental illness,” he said. “But we still have plenty to do. Because as good as all this has been, it’s limited. ... Our state’s mental health systems are still too fragmented, they’re still antiquated, and they’re painfully underresourced. And the laws are old and they don’t reflect the science today.”
Judge Leifman reported no relevant disclosures.