Human Rights Watch has released a report, Callous and Cruel, on the "unnecessary, excessive, and even malicious force" used in jails and prison to control inmates with mental illness. It's an issue that NAMI has long been concerned with, except that it's more than an issue or a concern.
It's an outrage that should shock the conscience of America and we need your help to change it.
People unfortunately often end up in jail or prison when they don't get effective treatment for mental illness. In another report this year, Incarceration's Front Door, the Vera Institute of Justice found that more than two million people with mental illness are booked into county jails alone, but as many as 80 percent don't get treatment after they arrive.
Imagine putting people in jail when they experience a heart attack. Imagine a family being told that a spouse, son or daughter has suddenly experienced a psychiatric crisis and as a result faces a prison term. One in five adults experiences a mental health condition at some point in life. No American family is immune from risk.
[For more of this story, written by Mary Giliberti, go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...lness_b_7334026.html]
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