MONDAY, JULY 11, 2016

THE MERCURY

Wait List
FROM PAGE 1

The progress, still in its

early stages, will take time
to have an impact, Gersch
said.
In a nut shell, the wait
times still have not come
down, and that can be because there are more people in the system, or because they havent gotten
the DAs to sign off on moving people to places which
the DA may not think is secure, Gersch said.

Wait times still high at

Norristown
When asked about the
current average wait times
for the two state hospitals,
Dennis Marion, Deputy Secretary of the Office of Mental Health and Substance
Abuse Services, referred
to the lawsuit which stated
that the average wait time
was at least 60 days.
Wait times for NSH are
significantly longer than
for TSH. We have not calculated average wait times
as we are bringing the new
beds on line, Marion said
in an email, adding that
the numbers are coming
down.
The ACLU continues to
work with the state as they
execute the plan laid out in
the settlement agreement.
Gersch said that there is
still concern that the state
is not making visible progress.
Since we have entered
into our agreement with
DHS, they have been making efforts to have more
beds, and thats very important, he said. We believe that can be a part or
all of the solution, but as of
this date, the wait list hasnt
come down yet.

Special court
programs are a benefit
Dr. Dale Adair, chief
medical officer at Norristown State Hospital, said
that there are steps that can
be taken at the county level
to reduce wait times.

Mental health courts

are a good example of ways
that prevent individuals
with mental health concerns from going into the
criminal justice system instead of treatment, Adair
said. We also know that a
significant number of individuals who are incarcerated may or may not have
mental health as their primary issue.
Montgomer y Count y
does have a Behavioral
Health Court, as well as a
Drug Court. Both are specialized judicial programs
to offer defendants treatment options opposed to
harsh sentences for minor
crimes. Adair said both help
reduce waiting times for the
hospital.
Substance use is a big
component, so drug courts,
those types of things, which
are geared more towards
getting individuals more
into treatment rather than
getting them incarcerated,
they help, Adair said.

Costs to county can

be reduced
Montgomery County recently issued a request for
proposals for vendors to
supply more treatment options for mentally ill prisoners. In the paperwork
for the request, the cost
of those with serious mental illness was shown to be
higher than those without.
In 2008, a sample of 38
inmates with (serious mental illness) housed at MCCF
showed an Average Length
of Stay (ALOS) of 230 days
as compared to the general
population ALOS of 72 days.
Using the above ALOS for
each population with the
jail per diem of $47 per
day, the cost for each person with SMI is $10,810
vs. $3,384 for the general
population, the document
states.
It goes on to say that the
cost doesnt even include
the cost of psychotropic
medication that 32 percent
of inmates are taking.
It is estimated that reducing the length of stay for
inmates with (serious mental illness) to that of the

general population would

save the county approximately $7,426 per inmate,
the research stated.
The request also sought
ways to keep those with
mental illness who commit
minor crimes out of jail in
the first place. One proposal
is to create support plans
for those who are capable
of showing up for court
dates and other appointments on their own. Another is to help with access
benefits, housing, transportation, treatment and support services and education or employment to reduce the risk of committing
another crime.
I think that one part
of the problem is that we
need to get people into
competency treatment
more quickly, the other
part of this is that we want
to have anybody who can
live in the community as
quickly as possible, with
appropriate supports, said
Alyssa Shatz, vice president
of advocacy for the Mental Health Association of
Southeastern Pennsylvania.
While community-based
options would not change
the path for someone like
Payne, or other violent offenders, it would create
more options for someone who stole $3 worth of
candy, thereby freeing up a
bed in a state hospital.
You have people who are
not dangerous taking up a
bed in what is the most secure facility you can have.
The goal is to get people
out of Norristown and into
more suitable locations, and
getting people into Norristown who really need it,
Gersch said.
J.H. was arrested for
stealing $3 of peppermint
patties, so he doesnt need
to be in a facility that secure. He was a citizen of
Pennsylvania, and he was
behind bars instead of getting treatment.
This is part two of a twopart report defendants
waiting to get a bed in Norristown State Hospital. Part
one looked at the wait and
how it was detrimental to
those with mental illness.

Police
FROM PAGE 1

The Dallas shooting

that killed five officers has
spurred an outpouring
of support for police, according to The Associated
Press.
Around the country, people have showed up at local
departments with flowers,
sent social media messages
or called to say thanks.
They delivered coffee, pizzas, cakes and moments of
solace for officers grieving
after the deadliest day for
U.S. law enforcement since
the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
According to the AP report, Abigail Bullard was
home with her 6- and
10-year-old sons in suburban Philadelphia, where
the younger boys fascination with emergency services personnel has devel-

Wolf
FROM PAGE 1

programs should lawmakers fail to approve a tax increase to fund a budget most
of them voted for.
Top lawmakers, however, did not object to Wolfs
move.
Wolf couched his decision by highlighting what
the spending bill offers
more aid to schools, for instance and pointed out
that it had bipartisan support, despite Republicans
having squeezed significant
concessions from Wolf.
Now we must pay for the
promises in the general appropriations bill, Wolf said.
Republican majority leaders have pledged to assemble
a $1.3 billion revenue package to help shore up Pennsylvanias deficit-riddled finances, and Wolf said he
takes them at their word that
it will happen soon.
But we should all be clear
about what that means,
Wolf said. Paying for what
has been appropriated must
be done with sustainable, recurring and sufficient reve-

| NEWS | 5
A

oped into a friendship with

a few Radnor Township
officers. Bullard had observed the kinship within
their profession and knew
theyd be affected by this
weeks news, so she and her
sons delivered cookies and
soft pretzels as comfort.
It was important to me
to say, here we have two
young black children that
are trying to do the right
thing because friends of
ours have had a death in
the family, she said. When
she shared the story on
Facebook, she concluded
it simply: Not all young
black men are bad, and not
all police officers are bad.
A few miles down the
road, the Lower Merion Police Department said its officers had heavy hearts but
full bellies after another
woman and her son delivered a stack of pizzas Friday. They also received coffee and doughnuts, a ges-

ture reported by numerous

police departments this
weekend.
One of them, the Voorhees Police Department in
New Jersey, said such actions have made us feel
better during a very sad
time to be a police officer.
Still others simply
stopped officers on the
street to chat or offer hugs.
Its just been amazing. Our guys cant go out
this morning without getting stopped by people
wanting to thank them,
Dustin Dwight, a spokesman for Louisiana State
Police Troop L, told NOLA.
comThe Times-Picayune
on Friday.
The Dallas shooting occurred during a Thursday
night protest over fatal police shootings of black men
in Minnesota and Louisiana earlier in the week.
The Associated Press
contributed to this report

nues.
He went on to take a shot
at some of the ideas being
floated by lawmakers
House Republicans, in particular.
Taking out loans, moving
money from different funds
or using other sources of
stopgap cash will not move
Pennsylvania forward, nor
will it pay for this budget,
Wolf said.
Closed-door revenue discussions revolve around a
$1.3 billion package that relies heavily on a $1 per-pack
cigarette tax increase, to
$2.60 per pack, and an expansion of casino-style gambling that would make Pennsylvania the fourth state to
legalize internet gambling.
Wolf refused to say what
he would do should the Legislature fail to approve a revenue package he embraces.
I dont expect that to
arise, Wolf said.
The governors aides later
said the administration
cannot spend more money
than it has coming in. But
it couldnt immediately say
how that would affect programs.
Questioned about the
constitutional implications,

the governors office pointed

to a provision that says budget appropriations made by
the Legislature shall not
exceed the actual and estimated revenues and surplus
available in the same fiscal
year.
In any case, Wolfs move
took pressure off lawmakers
to act before midnight Monday, and seemed sure to cement Wolfs second budget
as the second to become law
without his signature.
Pennsylvania is the only
state government without an
enacted budget for part or
all of the 2016-17 fiscal year
that began July 1, according
to the National Association
of State Budget Officers.
This latest stalemate
has emerged barely three
months after Wolf and the
Legislature ended a recordbreaking stalemate in the
just-ended fiscal year.
It looked increasingly
doubtful that a revenue
package would make it to
the governors desk Monday.
House Majority Leader
Dave Reed, R-Indiana, said
negotiators still have disagreements over some elements of a $1.3 billion revenue package.

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