Those with mental illness are statistically more likely to be incarcerated. It has been found that “low-income men with prior mental health histories were almost three times more likely to have been incarcerated by age 24 than those that had never received a diagnosis” (Jácome). Increasing mental health facilities is essential to lowering crime and incarceration rates. This would positively impact not only individuals, but entire communities as well.
Defunding the police and reallocating funds towards healthcare and mental health services will help prevent arrests and crimes by those with mental illnesses. It will also minimize interactions between police and those who are having a mental health crisis. Existing mental health facilities are often underfunded and working at capacity, so increased budgets would allow more people to receive the treatment that they need. Reallocating funds could also manifest as hiring more social workers to respond to mental health emergencies. Currently, the police are responsible for responding to a wide variety of calls, including some that they are not properly trained for. Allowing experts to respond to the situations that they are equipped for will decrease violent interactions between police and those with mental health crises. A clear example of why these changes need to be made is the shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. On October 26, 2020, Wallace was shot ten times and ultimately killed outside of his home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania while experiencing a mental health crisis (Parents of Walter). Throughout the course of his life, Wallace was diagnosed with ADHD, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia (Parents of Walter). Studies from the Treatment Advocacy Center show that “people with untreated mental illness are 16 times more likely to be killed during a police encounter. At least a quarter of fatal police shootings involve an individual with untreated severe mental illness” (Parents of Walter).
The wealth gap on the basis of race is extreme. While a white household’s median family wealth is $188,200, the median wealth of a Black household is $24,100, and $36,100 for non-white Hispanic families (Federal Reserve). These wealth gaps impact many aspects of life, but one that I will focus on is healthcare and with it, mental health services. Since the United States does not have universal healthcare, it is difficult for low income families to obtain healthcare, especially Black and Hispanic families. According to the Center for American Progress, authors Sofia Carratala and Connor Maxwell found that in 2017, 10.6% of African Americans, and 16.1% of Hispanic people were uninsured, with non-Hispanic whites uninsured at 5.9% (Carratala and Maxwell). In 2018, 18.6% of non-Hispanic white people received mental health services. In comparison, 8.6% of Black Americans, and 8.8% of Hispanic Americans received mental health services (Carratala and Maxwell). Expanding Medicare has been proven to decrease crime rates according to a study done by Heifei Wen, Jason Hockenberry, and Janet Cummings of the University of Kentucky, and Emory University. When Medicare was made accessible to a population that was most at risk for crime, violent and property crime rates fell (Doleac). The most likely cause of this is that the expansion allowed for more people to receive substance abuse treatment, which in turn decreased crime rates (Doleac).
Defunding the police and reallocating funds to healthcare and mental health services can make an impactful difference. Not only would crime rates be reduced, but the long term costs that come with crime would fall as well. According to a study done by Jacob Vogler, the “ACA’s Medicaid expansions resulted in cost savings of $13.6 billion due to the reduction in crime” (Doleac). A study done by Pew Charitable Trusts shows that, “a fifth of state prison expenditures are spent on correctional health care, and a third of this medical care goes to mental health care, pharmaceuticals, and substance-abuse treatment” (Doleac). There is already a significant amount of funding being spent on resources for those with mental illnesses in the criminal justice system. Therefore, rather than treating the consequences of a lack of mental health resources in low income communities, it would be more beneficial and effective to treat the root of the problem.
