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Helping the mentally ill in the Lycoming County Prison presents a win-win scenario, said Chris Ebner, deputy warden of inmate services.
Not only are people who need help receiving it, but taxpayer dollars also are saved in the long run, he said.
Both goals have been priorities for Ebner since he stepped into his position as deputy warden, he said, and his actions show it.
"It's been a passion since I first sat down here," Ebner said from his office chair, adding he's been a deputy warden for about four years.
One of the prison's first steps toward better understanding and accommodating the mentally ill was creating a way to take a "snapshot" of how many inmates, both at the prison and the Pre-Release Center, were dealing with mental health problems and at what level.
The snapshots, first put to paper and reported in October 2017, are based on a mental health survey performed by intake officers upon an inmate's arrival. Based on the inmate's responses, the intake officer contacts a supervisor who meets with the prisoner to talk more in-depth, Ebner said.
"All of the information we get is self-reported, so we don't catch everything," he admitted. "You get 2,700 to 2,800 commitments per year, you can't fact-check everyone."
But qualified nurses are on hand to help classify the intakes, using categories A through D with the latter standing for those with the most severe cases of mental illness.
These classifications are charted and broken down to show the number of inmates in each category between both the prison and Pre-Release Center.
The latest snapshot, dated Dec. 11, shows just shy of 54 percent of the inmate population has no mental health history; nearly 17 percent has past history but no active symptoms; about 28 percent are or recently have been on psychotropic medications, to counseling or hospitalized, or have attempted suicide or to self-harm; and just under 2 percent of inmates may have a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia.
The report breaks down the numbers further, noting 26 percent of the population at the Pre-Release Center are on medications, 18 percent at the prison.
"These rosters are spitting out good data," Ebner said, adding he wants to make them more
comprehensive. "Now that everybody understands it, we can get better."
By keeping track of this data, Ebner can keep the Forensic Mental Health Review and Treatment Team informed of severely mentally ill inmates.
"There used to be a history of the mentally ill being forgotten and rotting in jails. This program helps us identify cases and possible solutions to cases, where applicable," he said, adding that "people don't just get out of jail."
"The more you're talking about people …" Ebner started,
"They're not getting lost in the system," finished Michelle Finn, mental health forensic specialist from the Clinton/Lycoming Joinder Board Mental Health Services.
Services for the mentally ill can not only keep those people from getting lost in the system, but could possibly help them be successful upon release and not end up back in prison.
Finn performs evaluations and recommends inmates to doctors, counselors or certain programming as needed.
In addition to making referrals, Finn develops treatment plans for inmates to follow after being discharged, handles court-ordered reassessments with treatment plans, and develops treatment plans for supervised bail clients.
"We are improving on mental health in the prison," she said. "We're still working toward the bigger picture."
Finn also sits on the Crisis Intervention Team steering board, which handles training law enforcement, first responders and other public safety officials on handling crisis situations with the mentally ill, such as suicide attempts.
The training focuses on de-escalation and education -- learning how to communicate with people who have severe mental illnesses, Finn said.
"It's a matter of being more informed and lowering stigma," she said.
A multitude of programs have been brought into the prison to help inmates from all walks of life, from Narcotics or Alcoholics Anonymous to partnerships with Career Link and more.
Some of the more recent programs include a skills program started in July to help people learn to navigate the health care system and become financially literate. Another, called Empower Hour, is meant to help female victims of domestic violence or sexual assault address potential trauma.
"It really gives me a complete package at the prison," Ebner said. "I've got almost every box checked. The problem is getting people to go."
Stigma surrounding the mentally ill seems to create a barrier, discouraging inmates who might need the programming from actually going to it. To break down that barrier, Ebner said, programming is designed for the mentally ill and the non-mentally ill.
Though things are "a lot better than what it was five years ago," Ebner said the prison system still has improvements to make.
"It's going to take some time, and it's a lot of data," he said, "but I'm not afraid. It's important."