What happens to mentally ill prisoners when they finish their time and leave prison, and why they return to incarceration at such alarming rates.
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00:00I was asking if Bert was on his way.
00:30I was in state hospital before prison and diagnosed then at the age of 16,
00:59which means schizophrenic.
01:03I go through cycles where I, you know, don't take my Thorazine willingly and stuff and then
01:09I really, you know, as I say it, my mind snaps.
01:15I've cut myself a lot and I've ingested things like bed hooks, razor blades, ink pens, pencils,
01:22toothbrushes.
01:25I swallowed a cassette Walkman AM FM radio and just crushed it up in chunks and slivers
01:31and just bend my head back and push it down my throat and immediately drink water and swallow
01:37it.
01:38You know, I'm like my own worst enemy.
01:42I'm really, you know, in a sense, you know, destroying myself psychologically and physically.
01:50Do you think you're mentally ill, Mr. Ford?
01:52No.
01:53No, I don't think I'm mentally ill.
01:55What do you think you are?
01:57I think I have a spiritual illness.
01:59You know, maybe, you know, as I say, a spiritual insanity.
02:05That's the extent of it.
02:06Tharp.
02:07Ready?
02:09Tharp.
02:10We first met Jerry Tharp in 2004 when we made a film in Ohio about the mentally ill in prison.
02:22After serving 10 years for aggravated robbery, Jerry was about to be paroled.
02:28I need you to sign this copy saying that you received these medications.
02:33It goes in your chart.
02:34He was released to a halfway house with $75 and two weeks' worth of medication.
02:40If you're not familiar with it, that's your Thorazine.
02:42Okay.
02:43Copy.
02:44If you have any problems, you can follow up with your primary care physician or your local
02:49health department.
02:52If I was a betting man, what would be the odds of me coming back to prison?
02:57Zero.
02:58It's been a long time, and I'm finally free.
03:03I feel good, you know, about leaving, and I'm going to be gone.
03:10Stay gone.
03:15Yep.
03:20Our hope was that Jerry would stay gone, as he put it.
03:30But only three months later, he stopped taking his medication, robbed a pharmacy, and went
03:35back to prison.
03:37We also found out that, like Jerry, almost all of the inmates we met five years ago had
03:43since been released and re-arrested.
03:46Any person who leaves prison without a pretty good support system will have a very difficult
03:53time at trying to stay out of prison.
03:56And if you're mentally ill, that compounds the possibilities of you being successful in
04:03the community.
04:07I think the community knows very little about the fact that we're treating thousands of
04:13persons in our prison population with a mental illness, and serious mental illnesses.
04:19And they are a population that would be at risk, not only in the institutions, but when
04:26they leave the confines of our correctional facilities.
04:29This year alone, over 700,000 inmates are being released, the largest exodus of prisoners
04:36in America's history, and over half are mentally ill.
04:43So we went back to Ohio to find out why so many mentally ill offenders aren't making it
04:49on the outside.
04:54The pro boy let me go.
04:55The pro boy said, well, we think you rehabilitated.
05:00Honest by the citizen.
05:02Hard-working class person.
05:04Honest by the citizen.
05:05Believe you did the right thing to taught you a lesson by giving you 21 years.
05:09Over 21 years.
05:11So they said, boom, we let you go.
05:14He all right.
05:17I got big plans.
05:22Me and God got big plans, brutal plans, too.
05:28Keep doing the right thing.
05:30Try to better myself and abide by the laws.
05:33Keep your nose clean, stay out of trouble.
05:37Michael Grissett was paroled eight months ago.
05:41He spent 21 years in prison for murder and has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
05:48And what are they saying to you right now?
05:49No, they don't talk all the time.
05:54They listen.
05:55They can hear y'all, but y'all can't hear them.
05:58I can hear them.
05:59And what's inside me can hear them.
06:01And what are they saying to you right now?
06:03They ain't saying nothing right now.
06:04They listen.
06:05They're kind of scared.
06:06You know what I'm saying?
06:07And then when we leave, will they start to talk again, or what will they say?
06:13They ask me, say, Mr. Michael Grissett, we know you're the father of God.
06:20And God come in and be in the body.
06:22They say, where's our cornbread at?
06:24Are you going to feed us today?
06:26Get the out of here.
06:27You wasn't bought nothing to eat, no money.
06:30So die.
06:31That's why I tell the voice of the devil.
06:33Divorce man.
06:34So they start crying.
06:37They got a needle, they got a needle, and they got a feather, and they got a rope.
06:42God give it to them.
06:44A needle, a feather, and a rope.
06:49Grissett is one of 50 offenders lucky enough to get into a re-entry program in Cleveland.
06:55It's one of the few programs in Ohio that helps the seriously mentally ill transition back to the community.
07:02The program is designed for people who have a severe mental illness or a psychotic level illness,
07:20which means they're going to be having auditory hallucinations or fixed false beliefs, delusions,
07:27and require anti-psychotic medication in order to stabilize and function in a regular way.
07:33Come on in, have a seat.
07:35Hi.
07:36While in the program, Grissett has access to mental health treatment and sees a psychiatrist once every two weeks.
07:42Give me an update for today.
07:44Right now, today, how are you doing as far as the voices go?
07:49Fine.
07:50Good.
07:51Real good.
07:52Yeah.
07:53100%.
07:54100%.
07:55Greater power.
07:56Greater power.
07:57So you don't feel at risk for hurting yourself or somebody else right now?
08:01That's me and God's business, what we do.
08:06I tell you all I know.
08:07When you have someone who's disorganized and irritable and hearing voices and maybe paranoid,
08:12the risk for negative behavior is much higher.
08:17These really are medical illnesses that require daily compliance with the medication in order to adequately treat it.
08:26We see plenty of people who, depending on their condition, can decompensate quite quickly off the medications.
08:33And certainly in the course of days sometimes or certainly weeks, people can be quite disorganized and hallucinating
08:41and under full spell of delusions and really incapable of functioning in the community.
08:48All right.
08:49Nice seeing you today.
08:50Same to you.
08:51All right.
08:52Have a good day.
08:53Same to you.
08:54But unlike Michael Grissett, most mentally ill offenders go untreated and are more likely to commit another crime.
09:01I was upstairs getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner.
09:09And I was up there cleaning my chitlins and trying to, you know, get my stuff done prior to the next day.
09:14And I heard him with beer bottles and bricks breaking her windows and kept calling and been lying out in the middle of the street.
09:22So me and my daughter was upstairs and we kept looking out the window because I was scared as hallelujah.
09:27So we called the police.
09:299-1-1, what's your emergency?
09:35There's a guy just trying to break in this lady's house, trying to open his windows and he's hanging on the door.
09:42Did he have any kinds of weapons or anything in his hands?
09:45He's throwing bottles and bricks and carrying them.
09:48Okay.
09:49When police arrived on the scene, a suspect was arrested but was released the same day.
09:5512 hours later, he was back, still looking for Osama bin Laden.
10:009-1-1, what is your emergency?
10:029-1-1, what is your emergency?
10:039-1-1, what is your emergency?
10:049-1-1, somebody's trying to get my door, please hurry.
10:05Ma'am.
10:069-1-1, where is your emergency?
10:079-1?
10:089-1, go ahead.
10:0910-1, go ahead.
10:10Please hurry.
10:11Okay.
10:12Yes, you come in.
10:15I want you to take care.
10:16Lin Moore was sentenced to eight months for breaking and entering.
10:27He'd been arrested and released over 20 times, and this was his fourth time in prison.
10:35Well, I had delusional thoughts about bin Laden, thinking that he was in Canton, Ohio,
10:39going to blow up different schools and different places.
10:42I hoped that he would have came out or he would be exposed and that he would be captured.
10:54I was going to stay on my meds.
10:55It just didn't seem to—I mean, it was working, but it just—I just got tired of taking.
11:05I figured I was cured.
11:08I was healed from it, you know.
11:10I figured I don't have any more delusions.
11:12But it popped back up, saying that bin Laden was still in town, you know.
11:21And that's what the problem was.
11:25I wish I stayed on it now.
11:31Moore, a paranoid schizophrenic, was medicated and stabilized in prison.
11:36This is his last meeting with his treatment team before he's released.
11:42How do you feel now?
11:44Pretty good.
11:47What about the delusions?
11:50I don't have any.
11:52None at all?
11:53None at all.
11:55You really need to make sure you take those medications.
11:58Yes.
11:58Because you know what happens when you stop.
12:01What are some of the signs that you'll look for?
12:02What would happen if you stopped taking them?
12:04Uh, I started hallucinating different—just start getting into that past of what I used to be, thinking about the terrorists and different things.
12:20Okay, make sure you take those medications, because once you stop taking them, that's when you get in trouble.
12:26You don't want to wind up back in prison again.
12:28Yes.
12:29Okay?
12:29You don't mind going to be waking up in some stranger's house looking for bin Laden, right?
12:34Yeah.
12:35That was terrible.
12:36Yeah.
12:37Yeah.
12:37Okay.
12:39Moore has served his full sentence, so he's being released with no parole or supervision.
12:43All right, that's all right there is us.
12:46All right.
12:49For inmates released on parole, at least there's somebody that's tracking that person that's still working with the community to try to get them involved in services.
12:59Whereas the person that maxes out, they're pretty much on their own.
13:06You try to help make the connection to mental health services in the community, but mental health services are limited.
13:13So that person's out on their own to be able to advocate for themselves.
13:18Okay, you are free.
13:19Good luck to you.
13:20All right, thank you.
13:24When you talk to some of the mental health staff, they talk about it being very difficult.
13:28They get real concerned that people that we let out, are they going to really have a chance out there?
13:35Yeah.
13:35All right.
13:38On his first day of freedom, Lin Moore is heading home to Canton, Ohio.
13:46But home is now a place called the Refuge of Hope, a shelter where he's stayed before.
13:52when i see guys come out of jail generally there's no support or buffer
13:59there to like kind of cushion their fall it's just kind of a hard drop into reality
14:04i mean you know they've kind of broken down every other relationship they've had with their family
14:11friends so they don't you know there's no other place to catch them so they end up falling here
14:15we have guys who've been here for over a year i think we even may have one or two been here over
14:25two years all we ask is that they are making progressions towards getting themselves out
14:32of here whatever that may be however small those steps may be put you in bed 15
14:37everyone who comes in here has to take a breathalyzer before he's admitted
14:43if he fails he's dismissed for 30 days and then welcome to come back
14:46we also ask that they don't do drugs it is an expectation but we don't have any way of enforcing
14:52it so
14:52clear so if you want to just get sheets for your bed and then it's bed 20 is the second
15:00bunk you'll see on the end of the all right i don't think we have any color cases left but
15:04i don't think people understand how hard it is to transition from prison life back to everyday life
15:20there's some dignity that's lost with coming here and saying like i have nowhere else to turn
15:28around you guys are kind of my last option you're kind of at the end of your rope you're hoping this
15:35will be a place where you turn around
15:37all right fellas bite down
16:07Homelessness is often part of the cycle
16:21for the mentally ill coming out of jails and prisons.
16:25And once homeless,
16:27receiving and sustaining treatment is almost impossible.
16:31So outside a homeless shelter in Columbus, Ohio,
16:35an outreach team is bringing psychiatric care
16:38to those who would otherwise fall through the cracks.
16:50The realities of psychiatric treatment
16:53for those that are coming out of incarceration
16:55is that it's either nonexistent or very poor.
17:00People are being released
17:02with maybe one or two weeks' worth of medication
17:05and told that they should follow up
17:07at this time and this date with this agency.
17:10Thanks for waiting.
17:11Which assumes that they have the judgment
17:14that they need to continue their medications as prescribed
17:17and also assumes that they have the cognitive capacity
17:21to be proactive with phone calls,
17:25making appointments,
17:26discussing how many days of their medications they have left.
17:28So it assumes a lot.
17:31And how come everything is still in here
17:34the way I fixed it?
17:35You haven't been taking them?
17:36Yes, I have.
17:37I'm the one refilling.
17:39Okay, but today is...
17:41Today's Thursday, so...
17:43Thursday.
17:44Okay.
17:45So you shouldn't have had these
17:46for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
17:47They should be gone.
17:49Well, I ain't...
17:49This isn't a population that's going to come
17:53with their planners and their organizers
17:55and keep track of their appointments
17:56and seamlessly integrate their own physical health care issues
18:01with their mental health issues
18:02and be compliant with their medications
18:05and keep them in that perfect little medication box
18:08as they live, you know, behind a dumpster somewhere.
18:12What's more likely is that they'll come out,
18:14they'll take their medication for three, four, five days,
18:17either run out of it or lose it.
18:20Eventually, they may get into trouble for something again,
18:23and it's a chronic cycle for the people that we're seeing.
18:26For real.
18:28So I can see the mag out of there.
18:34Is this what you wanted me to have?
18:37Okay.
18:40And this is what we've been talking about
18:42on numerous occasions.
18:43You want PC because you don't feel safe.
18:45We first met Benny Anthony in 2004
18:49on the mental health unit of a prison in Orient, Ohio.
18:53A classic repeat offender,
18:55within weeks of his last release,
18:57he'd set his girlfriend's house on fire.
19:00This was his third time in prison.
19:02We discussed this, Mr. Anthony.
19:04I want to protect your custody.
19:06You're in your own cell.
19:07I want to protect your custody.
19:09All right.
19:11I want to protect your custody.
19:12I'm scared.
19:14Okay, and what are you afraid of?
19:18Even medicated,
19:19Anthony still struggles with paranoia
19:21and believes people are trying to kill him.
19:24They come from some type of confusion.
19:26They was from Texas.
19:27It's coming out of Texas.
19:30And some of them have syringes of poison,
19:35electric battery-powered volts on them
19:38where they can pierce your heart or your stomach.
19:41And some of them have wooden,
19:46wooden backflexes and guns.
19:55A year after we first met him,
19:58Anthony was released.
20:00He did well under supervision,
20:02but as soon as he went off parole,
20:04he moved to Pittsburgh,
20:06stopped taking his medication,
20:07and within a month became homeless.
20:13In the past two years,
20:15Benny has been arrested ten times.
20:17Sometimes he would have, you know,
20:19three arrests in one month.
20:22Retail theft.
20:24Loitering.
20:27Harassment.
20:28A lot of defiant trespass.
20:30He broke into several buildings
20:32just to get food.
20:33Open lewdness,
20:34because he was urinating in the park.
20:36That was his home.
20:38But the major thread,
20:40similar thread through all of them,
20:41is that they were all related
20:43directly to his mental illness.
20:45After a series of misdemeanors,
20:48Anthony was arrested again,
20:49this time for assault,
20:51and was held in the Allegheny County Jail.
20:54Benny was very sick when he hit the jail.
20:57You know, he was yelling loudly,
20:59unintelligible words.
21:00He'd just look very confused.
21:03It was very clear that he was actively psychotic.
21:05Anthony was so psychotic
21:09that he was diverted from jail
21:10to the Allegheny County Mental Health Court,
21:13a program that believes mentally ill offenders
21:15should be treated rather than punished.
21:18We've talked about your case in chambers,
21:21and I think it appears that you hadn't been
21:23taking your medication.
21:24In mental health court,
21:26mentally ill offenders are given probation
21:28instead of prison time.
21:29But mental health treatment is mandatory.
21:33See you then.
21:35Benny, Anthony.
21:36The next time we saw Anthony,
21:38he had been on probation for four months.
21:41Once again, under supervision,
21:43he was doing well.
21:44Good, good. You look great.
21:46It's a major difference, sir.
21:47Major, major difference.
21:49Hi, your name is.
21:50This is a positive hearing from Mr. Anthony.
21:51Mr. Anthony resides in Gibbs Personal Care Home,
21:53and he's been maintaining his treatment
21:55and doing everything he needs to do.
21:57That's excellent, Mr. Anthony.
21:58You know what you need to do.
21:59You've figured it out,
22:00so you've just got to keep it up
22:01and keep taking your medication,
22:02and you get closer and closer
22:03to graduating from the court.
22:05Yes, sir.
22:10You know, I've been a mental patient
22:11since 1974.
22:121974, you know, that's 32 or 33 years ago.
22:18You know, and I, I mean,
22:20I know what makes me paranoid
22:22and what don't, you know.
22:27If I get paranoid or something,
22:28I just go sit somewhere and think it out.
22:33You know, and I've been working with that
22:34over the years, and I handle it pretty good.
22:37I handle it pretty good.
22:38I handle my paranoia pretty good.
22:40Yeah, I handle it good.
22:42With the court's help,
22:44Anthony found a room at a group home
22:46for the mentally ill
22:47in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania.
22:52In the past, we used to have
22:54mainly senior citizens.
22:57They're gone.
22:58Now we have mainly mentally ill,
23:01mostly men,
23:03now mostly minority men.
23:06Most of them are on public assistance
23:10of some kind.
23:12Some have been to jail.
23:14Most have been in a mental hospital.
23:18Some have been homeless.
23:20And they have nowhere to go.
23:22Deal.
23:22I'll give you a morning medicine.
23:23All right.
23:25Of course, they get a room.
23:26They're bored.
23:27We provide meals for them.
23:29They get assistance with their medications.
23:32Everything that they may need assistance in.
23:34But a person may refuse their meds.
23:42If they refuse them,
23:45there's nothing we can do.
23:48We can talk to them about it.
23:54Let them know what could happen
23:56if they could decompensate.
23:57But they have a right
23:59to refuse their medications.
24:06All set for you, sir.
24:08Oh, really?
24:09Although the court can't force him
24:11to take medication,
24:12Anthony has to see a psychiatrist
24:14once every two weeks.
24:16All right.
24:22I had the opportunity
24:24to go through some of your old history.
24:26Yes, ma'am.
24:26You've been through a revolving door.
24:28Yeah, I have.
24:29There's a pattern to it
24:31about kind of when you're off your meds.
24:35Yes, ma'am.
24:36What happens?
24:37I was homeless almost two years
24:39and I wasn't taking no medication.
24:42I was around all type of cutthroves, too, you know.
24:46But I made it through
24:47without the medication, you know.
24:49Did you want to be on your medication?
24:50No, I didn't want to be on it.
24:52Benny knows well from our conversations
24:55that he cannot do well
24:57for any consistent period of time
25:00unless he takes his medication.
25:02And each time I meet with Benny,
25:04we go through that
25:05again and again and again.
25:06Can you write a sentence for me?
25:11Symptoms have quelled.
25:12He can sit calmly.
25:14The agitation is completely gone.
25:16And I'm happy that he's responded
25:19so nicely to the medication.
25:20But just as quickly as that happened,
25:23he can decide
25:24to not take the medication anymore.
25:26And in an instant,
25:28in an instant,
25:29all the good can be erased
25:30by a relapse.
25:32All bets are off.
25:38When William Stokes last left prison,
25:41he also stopped taking his medication.
25:45Unmedicated and out of control,
25:47within a month,
25:48he was back behind bars.
25:49This is an inmate, Stokes.
25:52He has been very agitated.
25:56He punched a brick wall.
25:58And he also threatened staff.
26:01So the order's been given
26:02for restraints.
26:04Stokes has been imprisoned
26:05three times.
26:07He is a schizophrenic
26:08with a long history
26:09of refusing medication.
26:10I'll start fighting!
26:13It's a f***ing lot!
26:15It's a f***ing thing!
26:20His inmate,
26:21Stokes 421-895,
26:23being placed in four-way restraints
26:25and given emergency medication.
26:27F*** yeah!
26:28I have psychotic episodes sometimes
26:31when I'm not taking a medication.
26:33I could be a real jerk.
26:36A real jerk.
26:38I take colozoril.
26:40It's an antipsychotic.
26:42It's like a miracle drug.
26:44I'm a totally different person on it.
26:45I mean, I'm able to function,
26:47abide by rules set here
26:49and everything.
26:50And it's the medication
26:51that I need to be on.
26:53I take Depakot also.
26:54I take Effexor also.
26:56And I also take
26:58Trazodone and Vistaril.
27:00But the other medications,
27:01they're okay,
27:02but they don't work as well
27:03as colozoril does.
27:04That's the main one.
27:10Stokes has just completed
27:12a 21-month sentence for theft
27:13and is about to be released again.
27:16Hi, Mr. Stokes.
27:17Hello.
27:18This time,
27:19he's hoping things will be different.
27:21With the prison's help,
27:22he's been accepted
27:23into one of the few group homes
27:25in Ohio
27:25that provides mental health treatment.
27:27Is that exciting?
27:28Yes.
27:29It alleviates a lot of stress.
27:31I know.
27:32Last time you left,
27:32you were pretty stressed about it.
27:33Yeah.
27:34We were contacted
27:35about Mr. Stokes
27:37following his release from prison.
27:40He has a horrendous history
27:42of self-mutilation.
27:44He's a spitter.
27:47He's a cutter.
27:48He's a biter.
27:48He's very,
27:50very hostile.
27:52He has been seen,
27:55I would hazard to guess,
27:57upwards of near 100 times
27:58in the emergency room.
28:01He is isolated from his family.
28:03He doesn't have a lot of support.
28:06And he's not on probation or parole.
28:07If we didn't take him this time,
28:12he would be at the homeless shelter.
28:17Bring your blues out when it doesn't matter.
28:22I'm trying to do better this time.
28:25They're not making the same mistakes.
28:27I want to do good.
28:30I don't want to fail again.
28:32It's actually,
28:32I'm at that point
28:33where failing isn't even an option.
28:35So,
28:36I'm lucky enough
28:38to be going to a place
28:39specifically made for mental health.
28:42And,
28:43there'll be a case manager,
28:44nurses there,
28:47staff,
28:49all kinds,
28:49you know,
28:49all the people you need
28:51to help you make it,
28:52you know.
28:54And this time,
28:55since I'm going through all this,
28:57programming and stuff,
28:58they're going to make sure
28:59I stay on my medication.
29:04William Stokes will be living
29:05at Bridgeview Manor
29:06in Ashtabula
29:07with 15 other schizophrenic men.
29:11There's nothing else like it in Ohio.
29:14It's the only residential facility
29:16that accepts the indigent mentally ill
29:18and offers them treatment.
29:20You just want to grab your box.
29:22We'll get it inside.
29:23Your room is the first door.
29:28Bridgeview Manor is our residential facility.
29:32And,
29:33it was born out of frustration,
29:35really.
29:36You share the room
29:36with two other gentlemen.
29:38First room on the left?
29:39Mm-hmm.
29:41Here we had
29:42very severely ill people
29:44that needed residential kinds of services.
29:47And we simply couldn't find them.
29:50Clean towels and washcloths
29:51are kept up here.
29:52Literally,
29:53within an hour drive,
29:54there were no residential facilities
29:56that could house
29:57mentally ill clients.
29:59This way.
30:00William,
30:00this is,
30:01I'm George.
30:02Hello.
30:02I've been here almost two years.
30:05All right.
30:05My room is over three.
30:06Okay.
30:06How old are you?
30:08About 30?
30:0829.
30:09Nice to meet you.
30:10The staff's really good to hear.
30:12All right.
30:12They take good care of you.
30:14Okay.
30:14They give you good meals and everything.
30:16If you want to...
30:16Nice to meet you.
30:17Yep.
30:18Jake,
30:18this is William.
30:19Thank you,
30:19William.
30:20Most of our residents
30:21before living here
30:23were living in various states
30:26of squalor and disarray.
30:30They were isolated.
30:31They were lonely.
30:32We've had other clients
30:33who've come from
30:34having been incarcerated.
30:37But primarily,
30:39they've been homeless
30:40or living in a homeless shelter.
30:42This is also the area
30:43where I think Sherry told you
30:45about having groups in the morning.
30:47So what we tried to design here
30:49at Bridgeview Manor
30:49is a place where
30:51housing needs are met,
30:53first and foremost.
30:54So they live here.
30:56They have no predetermined
30:57length of stay.
30:58And whatever the client has
31:00for income,
31:00whether it be from
31:01Social Security,
31:02Social Security,
31:03disability,
31:04they pay 70%
31:06of that income in rent.
31:08And clients have access
31:10to individual mental health therapy,
31:13partial hospitalization programming,
31:15which is group treatment,
31:16and case management
31:18all within the house.
31:20For those of you
31:22who haven't met William,
31:23he is our new resident today.
31:26Hi, William.
31:27Hello.
31:28Let's give him a welcome.
31:29Does everybody...
31:30William, in the morning,
31:36we do a morning meeting.
31:38Everybody takes part in it.
31:40Some people are assigned
31:41some tasks.
31:43This is the part where we...
31:46What?
31:47Positive for the day.
31:48Say something positive.
31:51Frank, how about you?
31:52Something positive.
31:53I keep myself clean.
31:54Okay.
31:55How about something else?
31:56Something about you.
31:57What are you?
32:00Hope everybody has a nice day.
32:02Okay.
32:04Let me give you an example.
32:06Are you a nice person?
32:07Are you a happy person?
32:10Funny person?
32:11I'm happy.
32:12You're a happy person?
32:14Yeah.
32:14You definitely are that.
32:15Okay.
32:16William?
32:17I'm a nice person.
32:18You're a nice person.
32:19Okay.
32:20Dennis?
32:21Didn't know what to expect.
32:22I'm kind to myself.
32:23And guys here,
32:25you know,
32:25they're good people.
32:27So lots of personalities,
32:28lots of different people.
32:30It's all right.
32:32You know,
32:33nice room,
32:34nice beds,
32:35good food.
32:36People that seem to generally care.
32:38And that's what I need right now.
32:44There's a huge segment
32:46of the population of people
32:48that are diagnosed
32:48with severe and persistent
32:49mental illness
32:51that will need care
32:53for the remainder
32:54of their lifetime.
32:57It's not just a matter of,
32:59okay,
32:59take some medications
33:01and learn some skills
33:02and then you can go
33:03live on your own.
33:04These clients need
33:05this level of care
33:06consistently.
33:07day after day
33:09after day
33:09if we want them
33:10to function
33:11at this level.
33:14Of course,
33:14the danger is that
33:15when this level of care
33:18isn't available anymore,
33:19they immediately
33:20are thrown back
33:21into the situation
33:22where they're
33:23re-hospitalized
33:24and re-incarcerated
33:25and the cycle
33:26kind of starts
33:27all over again.
33:37six o'clock, wake up!
33:48Six o'clock, wake up!
33:49Everybody up!
33:50Six o'clock!
33:51living in a homeless shelter,
34:03there's not a ton
34:04of success
34:05that you're going to see.
34:09People will make it out.
34:11They will probably not be
34:13your average story,
34:15you know.
34:16They will be the exception
34:17rather than the rule.
34:18I mean, the reality
34:24of Lynn's situation,
34:25he's got a history
34:26of alcohol and drug abuse,
34:28coupled with a mental illness.
34:31You know, the hardest thing
34:32for him will be
34:33staying clean.
34:34If he's able
34:35to stay clean,
34:36the next hardest thing
34:37will be
34:38permanent, affordable housing
34:40and then, you know,
34:43finding work, you know.
34:43The combination
34:44of three very difficult things
34:46kind of converging
34:46and happening
34:47is unlikely at best.
34:51Then staying mentally
34:53on even par
34:55will be
34:56very, very difficult
34:58just because of
35:00the environment here
35:01coupled with
35:02already being paranoid,
35:04schizophrenic.
35:05Yeah, it's difficult
35:06for people with mental illness
35:07for sure.
35:10How much money
35:13do you have today?
35:16$19.75.
35:18It should last,
35:20supposed to last me
35:20at least a month.
35:25Trying to keep focused
35:26and hopefully find a job
35:31and hang on to it.
35:34Other than that,
35:36it'll be a wait.
35:38All right.
35:40Lynn Moore used to receive
35:46$627 a month
35:48in Social Security disability,
35:50but his benefits
35:52stopped when he went
35:52to prison.
35:54And it can take months
35:55to get them going again.
35:57So today,
35:58he's meeting with
35:59a case manager,
36:00hoping for some help.
36:02So it looks to me
36:04like your symptoms
36:05are pretty well managed
36:05right now
36:06with whatever medication
36:07they had you on.
36:08Abilify.
36:09Abilify?
36:10Yeah.
36:10All right.
36:12And this is good.
36:13You're feeling
36:13pretty empowered,
36:15seeing yourself
36:16as a capable person,
36:17have a positive attitude.
36:19All those are good things.
36:22Mm-hmm.
36:23So right now,
36:24the main thing
36:25is going to be
36:26getting your benefits back.
36:27Oh.
36:28Right.
36:28And what else?
36:32What other goals
36:33do you have for yourself?
36:36Just to find employment.
36:42That's the main thing.
36:44The main thing?
36:45Yeah.
36:45You want to get back to work?
36:47Yeah.
36:48What type of work
36:49would you like to do?
36:50Construction or restaurant work.
36:53Okay.
36:55So the first step
36:56is probably going to start
36:57looking in the paper.
36:58Yeah.
36:59Putting in applications.
37:01How many applications
37:01do you think
37:02you want to do a week?
37:03You don't want to
37:04overwhelm yourself.
37:05No, I don't.
37:06You know?
37:07At least a couple.
37:09At least a couple?
37:10Like one to two?
37:11Yeah.
37:11Okay.
37:12So we'll make that
37:13your first objective.
37:14So that means
37:16you're going to
37:17apply
37:19for one to two jobs
37:23per week.
37:29So that means
37:30that I'm going to
37:32encourage
37:34I'll link it
37:36to whatever I can
37:37and address concerns.
37:41Okay.
37:51I see the whole
37:52community mental health
37:53system as a huge
37:54social failure
37:55and a huge moral
37:57obligation that
37:57we're not meeting
37:58because we went
38:00from institutionalization
38:02to nothing.
38:05And in many cases
38:07a person is going
38:08to get a better
38:09level of care
38:10while incarcerated
38:11than they're going
38:12to get if they
38:13live in the community
38:14and that's really sad
38:15but it's what happens.
38:20When state psychiatric
38:21hospitals closed
38:22in the 1970s
38:24the seriously
38:25mentally ill
38:25were left with
38:26nowhere to turn
38:27and prisons
38:28became the new
38:29asylums.
38:35Keith Williams
38:36more than anyone
38:37we met
38:37represented the
38:38failure of
38:39deinstitutionalization.
38:42Years ago
38:43he might have
38:43spent his life
38:44at a state hospital.
38:46Instead he was
38:47sent to prison
38:48and that's where
38:49we first met him.
38:51He had just
38:52finished a two-year
38:52sentence
38:53and was about
38:54to be released.
38:54And where
38:57where are you
38:57going to go?
38:58Toledo, Ohio.
39:00St. Paul's.
39:01Yeah.
39:02Pretty much.
39:03And is your
39:04family there?
39:05No.
39:07I'm not
39:07close to my family
39:09anymore.
39:10Been away too long.
39:13I was just
39:14St. Paul's
39:16and then
39:16after that
39:17somewhere else
39:19with my people.
39:21Who are your people?
39:22My mother's name
39:23was Cass.
39:24And where
39:25are they living?
39:28They live
39:29all over the world.
39:30No, I'm not
39:31mistakenly
39:31live all over the world.
39:33All over the world.
39:35All over the world.
39:40Williams was
39:41taken to a homeless
39:42shelter
39:42but within a month
39:44he was back
39:45in jail.
39:46five years
39:51later
39:51we found him
39:52again
39:52at one of
39:53the last
39:54remaining
39:54state psychiatric
39:55hospitals
39:56in Ohio.
39:58I'm doing
39:59a whole lot
40:00better.
40:02I feel
40:02great.
40:04I feel
40:04happy.
40:05I had
40:06the confidence
40:06to stay
40:07out of jail
40:08and move
40:10on,
40:10push on.
40:11There's a lot
40:11more bigger
40:12things going
40:13in life
40:13than just
40:14going back
40:15and forth
40:15to jail
40:16back
40:16and forth
40:17to jail
40:17back
40:17and forth
40:18to jail
40:18back
40:18and forth
40:19to hospital
40:19back
40:20and forth
40:20to hospital
40:20back
40:20to hospital
40:21back
40:21to hospital
40:22back
40:22to hospital
40:23yeah
40:23so
40:25I feel
40:27like
40:27a million bucks
40:28a million
40:29250 bucks
40:30and $250
40:31there.
40:33Yeah
40:33I feel
40:34great.
40:35I feel
40:35great.
40:36I feel
40:36great.
40:38We're here
40:38this morning
40:39to discuss
40:39Keith Williams.
40:41Mr. Williams
40:42has an
40:42extensive history
40:43of psych
40:44admissions
40:44and a variety
40:45of diagnoses
40:46over the
40:46year
40:47including
40:47the present
40:48one of
40:48schizoaffective
40:49disorder
40:50schizophrenia
40:51bipolar
40:52disorder
40:53antisocial
40:54personality
40:54disorder
40:55and this
40:56is his
40:5718th
40:57admission
40:58to our
40:58facility.
41:00Keith is
41:00on
41:01Depakote
41:02Seroquel
41:03and Rusperdal
41:04but the
41:05typical thing
41:06is he does
41:06well
41:06he responds
41:07to medication
41:08but once
41:09he's discharged
41:09he's
41:10non-compliant
41:11and he
41:13ends up
41:13either back
41:15here or
41:15in jail.
41:16You know
41:17he's really
41:17well managed
41:18right now
41:18on three
41:19times a day
41:20medication
41:21dosing
41:21which is
41:22difficult to
41:24expect of
41:24anybody
41:25even without
41:26you know
41:26mental illness
41:27but that
41:28seems to be
41:28the magic
41:29bullet for
41:29him so
41:30you know
41:31therein lies
41:31the problem.
41:34This state
41:35hospital once
41:36housed 5,000
41:37mentally ill
41:37patients
41:38but today
41:39there are
41:40only 110
41:40with so
41:42few beds
41:43even the
41:44seriously
41:44mentally ill
41:45are now
41:45held only
41:46for short
41:46term
41:47crisis care.
41:48Good morning
41:49Keith.
41:49Good morning.
41:50Juice please.
41:54The good
41:54news is that
41:55Heath is getting
41:55better and he
41:56is more stable
41:57and in a sense
41:57the bad news
41:58as well
41:59is that
41:59because of
42:00this he'll
42:01be sent
42:01back into
42:01the community
42:02in Toledo
42:03and he'll
42:05be back
42:05within three
42:06months
42:06three to six
42:07probably.
42:09Probably
42:10very psychotic
42:12and hopefully
42:12not having
42:13hurt somebody
42:14out in the
42:15community
42:16but that's
42:16always a
42:17possibility.
42:21Once he's
42:22released
42:22Williams will
42:23be responsible
42:24once again
42:25for taking
42:25his own
42:26medications.
42:28And how
42:28will you know
42:29when to take
42:30them and which
42:30to take?
42:36I would
42:49know when
42:49to take
42:50them
42:50because
42:50if I feel
42:52like
42:53if I feel
42:54just normal
42:55I know
42:56where to
42:56take them
42:57but if
42:58if I feel
42:59like
43:00like
43:01kabooginant
43:05or
43:05or like
43:07groovy
43:12or something
43:15or
43:15compersion
43:17or something
43:17maybe
43:18you know
43:19what I'm
43:19saying
43:19I just
43:20want to know
43:20I took
43:21them already
43:21so
43:22yeah
43:23that would
43:24be it
43:24too.
43:33Today's
43:34devotion is
43:35I am
43:35that I
43:37am.
43:39Moses
43:39wanted to
43:40know
43:40not only
43:41who he
43:42was
43:42but also
43:44who
43:44God
43:45was.
43:47Most
43:47people don't
43:48know who
43:48God is.
43:50God says
43:51that I
43:51am
43:51that means
43:53he is
43:54whatever
43:54you lack
43:56in your
43:56life.
43:57If you
43:57lack
43:57health
43:58God is
43:58your
43:58healer.
43:59If you
44:00lack
44:00salvation
44:00God is
44:01your
44:01savior.
44:02If you
44:02lack
44:02finances
44:04God is
44:04your
44:05source
44:05of
44:05supply.
44:08What
44:08do you
44:09need
44:09today?
44:12Lynn
44:12Moore
44:12has been
44:13in here
44:13two
44:13months.
44:14It's
44:14almost
44:14a little
44:15over
44:15two
44:15months
44:15since
44:15he
44:15first
44:16arrived
44:16at
44:16the
44:16refuge
44:16of
44:17hope.
44:19At
44:19the
44:19beginning
44:19he came
44:20around
44:20for
44:20meals
44:21and I
44:21would
44:21see
44:21him
44:22on a
44:22fairly
44:23regular
44:23basis.
44:24I knew
44:24that he
44:25was
44:25following
44:25up
44:25on
44:25meetings.
44:26He
44:26was
44:26taking
44:26his
44:26medication
44:27when he
44:27was
44:27in here.
44:29He thought
44:29he was
44:29going to get
44:30housing right
44:30away and
44:31then that
44:31kind of fell
44:31through and
44:33then it
44:33looked like
44:34that kind
44:35of like
44:35swung his
44:37mood like he
44:37was pretty
44:38depressed about
44:39the situation
44:39and didn't
44:39feel like there
44:40was much
44:40hope.
44:40We pray all
44:41these things
44:41in the name
44:42of Jesus.
44:42Amen.
44:43And then
44:44he failed
44:45the breathalyzer
44:45on September
44:475th and so he
44:48was dismissed
44:48from our
44:49facility for
44:4930 days
44:50and so that's
44:51the last I
44:51know about
44:52his whereabouts.
45:07911, what's
45:08your emergency?
45:09Well there's a
45:10guy out here
45:10busted a window
45:11out of my
45:11trailer today
45:12and they
45:13arrested him.
45:14I don't know
45:14how he's out
45:15but he's back
45:15here again.
45:16He's back
45:16here throwing
45:17rocks again.
45:17What's his
45:18name?
45:19I think the
45:19report says
45:20it's Lynn
45:22Moore.
45:23I know it's
45:24the same guy.
45:24I'm on the
45:25phone again.
45:27Well I'm on
45:28the phone with
45:28him.
45:29I don't know
45:29what that was
45:29going on with
45:29that guy.
45:30What was
45:30your name?
45:31My name is
45:32Ron Whitmore.
45:35Lynn Moore
45:36was arrested
45:37again.
45:38He was taken
45:39to the county
45:40jail and
45:41charged with
45:41criminal damage.
45:44It had been
45:45three months
45:46to the day
45:46since he was
45:47released from
45:48prison.
46:00You want to
46:01sit in there
46:01for me?
46:03Go ahead and
46:04have a seat.
46:04tell me how you
46:19are.
46:19What's
46:19happened this
46:20week?
46:25I don't know.
46:25It's the devil,
46:26Antichrist,
46:27Elijah,
46:28Satan,
46:29Saddam.
46:30First class,
46:37300 prospect.
46:39I don't know,
46:39it's just
46:40cigarettes.
46:41You work to
46:42perfection.
46:42You try to
46:43work to
46:44perfection.
46:47When you went
46:48to the camper
46:49last week and
46:50to the house,
46:51what were you
46:51hoping to do?
46:52Like I said,
46:54those,
46:55Bin Laden,
47:00Saddam,
47:01Antichrist,
47:04devil,
47:07Ronald Whitmer,
47:08and I hope I
47:14didn't miss
47:14them.
47:15that place
47:22is for
47:25real.
47:28Do you
47:28think this
47:29could all be
47:30part of your
47:30illness,
47:31though,
47:31and your
47:32delusion?
47:45no delusion.
48:05I don't think
48:06it's no delusion.
48:08I know
48:08they're losing.
48:13Through the
48:13spirits and
48:14knowing which
48:15way they're
48:15going,
48:16that's delusion.
48:18Because it's
48:19like pinpointing
48:21right exactly
48:21where he's at.
48:38After spending
48:3930 days in
48:40jail,
48:41Lynn Moore
48:41would be
48:42released.
48:43One week
48:45later,
48:46he would be
48:46arrested again.
48:52We once
48:53believed with
48:54deinstitutionalization
48:55that the mentally
48:56ill would have
48:57the same rights
48:58and freedoms
48:58as the rest
48:59of us.
49:00But for the
49:01seriously mentally
49:02ill,
49:03real freedom
49:03can be hard
49:04to define.
49:06There is
49:07this notion
49:09of focusing
49:10on freedom,
49:12which is an
49:12important idea,
49:14of course,
49:15in our country,
49:15but what's
49:16maybe not
49:17appreciated
49:17is how free
49:20one isn't
49:20when you're
49:21being affected
49:21by schizophrenia.
49:24Maybe there
49:25was a hope
49:25when many people
49:27were in the
49:27hospitals that
49:28we could do
49:28things better
49:29in the community
49:30and that people
49:31would have
49:31more freedom,
49:32but we also
49:34see the negative
49:35side of that
49:36freedom.
49:37Was it a good
49:40policy change
49:42to deinstitutionalize?
49:43Absolutely.
49:44But I think
49:45that it went
49:45a little bit
49:46too far
49:47and that we
49:48do have
49:49people that
49:50are out there
49:50that really
49:51do need
49:52some level
49:55of supervision
49:56on a regular
49:58and consistent
49:59and constant
49:59basis.
50:00They are
50:01chronically
50:02mentally ill.
50:04There are now
50:04over a million
50:05mentally ill inmates
50:06in prisons
50:07across the country
50:08and within
50:0918 months
50:10of their release
50:11the vast majority
50:13will wind up
50:14back behind bars.
50:16I don't promote
50:17the bringing back
50:19of state-run
50:20facilities
50:21by any stretch
50:22of the imagination
50:23but we need
50:25to understand
50:26better how
50:27to divert
50:28persons who
50:28are mentally ill
50:29who've committed
50:29crime to something
50:31other than a state
50:32prison or jail.
50:33state prison
50:36correctional
50:37facilities
50:37is not
50:38the answer.
50:47It's been
50:48seven months
50:49since William Stokes
50:50moved into
50:50Bridgeview Manor
50:51and he continues
50:52to do well.
50:53Michael Grissett
51:00was hoping
51:01to complete
51:02his parole
51:02but on
51:03January 16th
51:042009
51:05he was shot
51:06to death
51:07during a robbery
51:08in his group
51:09home.
51:14Two weeks
51:15before his
51:15court review
51:16Benny Anthony
51:17stopped taking
51:18his medication
51:18packed up
51:20his belongings
51:20from Gibbs
51:21house
51:21and disappeared.
51:22He is now
51:24back in the
51:25Allegheny County
51:25Jail.
51:30And four days
51:32after he was
51:32discharged from
51:33the state
51:33psychiatric hospital
51:35Keith Williams
51:36assaulted a
51:37police officer.
51:39He is now
51:40facing ten years
51:42in prison.
51:42The End
51:42Explore more
52:02of this story
52:03on our website
52:04where you can
52:05watch the full
52:06program again
52:06online.
52:07See more video
52:09and photos
52:10of life
52:10inside Bridgeview
52:11Manor
52:12and why
52:13this kind
52:13of residential
52:14facility
52:14is a model.
52:15I want
52:16protective custody.
52:17View a dramatic
52:18timeline
52:19with photos
52:20of Benny Anthony's
52:21lifetime
52:21of rotating
52:23in and out
52:23of prison.
52:25Learn about
52:26the organizations
52:26trying to help
52:27mentally ill offenders
52:29reintegrate
52:29into society.
52:30We went from
52:32institutionalization
52:33to nothing.
52:34Explore our
52:35interviews with
52:36experts
52:37and join the
52:39discussion
52:39at pbs.org.
52:50Frontline's
52:52The Released
52:52is available
52:53on DVD.
52:55To order
52:56visit
52:56shoppbs.org
52:58or call
52:591-800-PLAY-PBS.
53:03The Released