Prison: Vacancy For The Mentally Ill
The United States holds the most prisoners in the world in its state and federal facilities. 1.5 million people can be found within them at any given time. In California they were overcrowded and found themselves trying to reduce this issue. Assembly 108 was passed which turned over the states power to the counties within the state. This assembly caused the release of 18,000 prisoners back into the streets. Now, this may look like it’s a problematic situation but the real issue lies on the fact that 8,300 of those 18,000 prisoners have a mental health issue and are let out in the world without help. Prisons have become the mental hospitals of today but without any help or rehabilitation practices for the mentally ill. These people are just let go into the world with very little money, no home, no medication, and no help. The United States likes to forget about prisons. If they are out of site they are out of mind but what is happening inside them needs to be uncovered and addressed. A jail is no place for someone who has schizophrenia or depression. They are being oppressed rather than helped.
After the internment camps in the 1940s, many were let go into the world without help or even a home. After an experience like that wouldn’t they need some help instead of just releasing them? It’s hard enough for a healthy person to come back to a world that has neglected them and left them with nothing. Some states have implemented programs that try to find help for recently released prisoners and rehabilitate them but society still needs to see that letting people go without help is not the right way to do things to address an issue.
