FAYETTEVILLE -- The state inmate population receiving treatment for a mental illness has more than doubled over the last five years, a mental health administrator for the state Department of Correction said Friday.
The inmates listed on the prison's mental health "med log" totaled 1,832 as of April 1, up from 814 inmates in April 2010, said Bob Parker, speaking at the Arkansas Health Disparities Conference, which was held at the University of Arkansas.
"We're charged with protecting the community, and we're charged with identifying, diagnosing and treating them," Parker said of the role of the state's Correction Department.
On a percentage basis, the "truly identified mentally ill" make up about 11.7 percent of the prison population of 15,572, Parker said. In 2010, the mentally ill population made up 5.9 percent of 13,605 inmates, Parker said.
An analysis released Wednesday by advocacy group The Sentencing Project found Arkansas' prison population had grown by 17 percent from 2008 through 2013 -- on a percentage basis, the most of any state -- during a time period when by 2013 most states had seen decreasing prison populations compared to peak years of incarceration.
Parker explained the mental health tallies he discussed were based on evaluations by psychiatrists.
"They're determining, is there a mental illness present? If there is a mental illness present, is medical administration and management indicated?" Parker said. "If it is, then the psychiatric provider will initiate that, and other psychiatric providers of [the inmate's] parent unit will follow that and maintain that and adjust medications, change medications or discontinue medications as clinically necessary."
Parker also noted, however, the limits of staffing in the Department of Correction even while the department attempts to have a licensed mental health professional screen all incoming inmates, a process that includes an interview with an inmate.
Parker said there's 96 basic mental health positions for the state's 15 major prisons, though the full department -- including drug treatment and sex offender treatment specialists -- has an allocation of 172 positions.
"So one mental health staff for every 163 inmates," Parker said.
The Department of Correction doesn't offer one-on-one counseling, but does offer several classes for inmates, Parker said, including an anger management class. In March, 433 inmates completed the class, but there's a waiting list of more than 3,000 inmates, he said.
NW News on 04/11/2015