PANEL RELEASES ITS REPORT ON MENTAL HEALTH, ABUSE

Oklahoma is spending too much to imprison nonviolent offenders who are
mentally ill and addicted, according to a year-long study released
Thursday by the governor and attorney general.

Task force members spent the past year studying problems caused by
mental illness, substance abuse and domestic violence.

Direct costs to the state such as imprisonment and hospitalization
total about $3 billion a year, and there is $5 billion in lost
productivity, the study concludes.

Gov. Brad Henry said this is the first time anyone has placed a dollar
figure on those costs.

"The direct figures are staggering, and we know there are additional
social costs that are just unquantifiable," Henry said.

State mental health Commissioner Terry Cline said it costs about
$16,000 a year to incarcerate someone, compared to about $5,000 to
treat mental illness or drug addiction.

Mental health leaders estimate 20 percent of state inmates are in
prison because addictions or mental illness got them in trouble.

Henry has recommended in his proposed budget that another $8 million
be used to establish more drug courts.

Donna Woods-Bauer, who attended the news conference, said she wished
alternative treatment rather than jail had been available when she got
in trouble 14 years ago. She said she was arrested three times for
driving while intoxicated, but was never given any follow-up or
directed into services that could help.

She now heads a group called Oklahoma Citizen Advocates for Recovery &
Treatment Association. The group tries to bridge the gap for the
mentally ill and addicted from the time they end up in a crisis until
they get into some kind of community treatment, she said.

The task force also recommended prevention and early intervention be
stressed, particularly with children in families where there is mental
illness, substance abuse and domestic violence.

Minimum training standards for mental health workers need to be
established, the study says.

The group said more study needs to be done to evaluate the needs of
offenders and others in custody suffering from mental illness and addiction.

Composed of mental health leaders, a mayor and the chief of an Indian
tribe, the group's official name is the Governor's and Attorney
General's Blue Ribbon Task Force on Mental Health, Substance Abuse and
Domestic Violence.