Advocates sue state for treatment of mentally ill prisoners

Advocates for prisoners and the mentally ill filed a federal lawsuit asking a judge to order the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction and the Ohio Department of Mental Health to provide care for released inmates (Source: “Mentally ill inmates sue Ohio prisons,” Cincinnati Enquirer, Feb. 10, 2010).

The groups filing the suit say the move would make fiscal sense for the state, pointing out that the cost of providing treatment for a mentally ill person is, on average, $7,400 a year, compared to the $25,000 annual cost of incarceration, according to the lawsuit.