Retired Florida Southern College Professor of Criminology Risdon Slate, 64, isn’t bashful about telling the stories of his two arrests when he was having psychotic episodes associated with bipolar disorder.
In one case, he was in Miami and thought he was on the set of Miami Vice. Another time he wound up in a jail cell and thought law enforcement officers were going to murder him.
I had a Ph.D. in criminal justice. I have work experience in the criminal justice system, and I got thrown in jail. … If that could happen to me, it can happen to anybody.
Risdon Slate, author and retired professor of criminology at Florida Southern College
A Candid Conversation: Slate joined LkldNow and co-host Lakeland Vision at the Florida Conference United Methodist Center near Lake Wire for one of a series of Candid Conversations this year about health, sponsored by Lakeland Electric. You can see the 54-minute discussion here:
Twice as likely to be arrested
In his book, “The Criminalization of Mental Illness: Crisis and Opportunity for the Justice System,” Slate and co-authors Kelly Frailing, W. Wesley Johnson and Jacqueline Buffington make two important and related points:
- People with a mental illness are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system.
- People with a mental illness are twice as likely to be arrested as those without a mental illness for similar behavior.
Jailed instead of treated: All of that, Slate says, clogs the jails, courts and prisons with people who should be getting treatment.
Poverty makes it hard to get out: Slate said mental illness has been criminalized throughout American history. And once the cycle begins, lack of financial support makes it hard for many people to break free.
“It is happening to people and they don’t have the wherewithal or the contacts to get out of it,” Slate said, with his wife of 24 years, Claudia, by his side. “If you don’t have monetary support, it’s hard to avoid being in the criminal justice system.”
Barriers to accessing medication: Slate also blames the insurance industry for forcing some patients to fight for the medication they desperately need and are legally entitled to. Some of those medications can cost patients $1,000 or more per month, or insurance companies deny them altogether. Lack of access can lead people back down a path of psychosis, delusions, depression or mania.
Read more about Slate’s journey with bipolar disorder.
Florida ranks low for mental health
Slate pointed out that Florida has higher rates of mental illness and less access to care than many other states. A 2023 report from Mental Health America ranked Florida:
- 25th among the states for adults with any mental illness.
- 33rd for juveniles with any mental illness.
- 46th for access to care — up from 49th in 2020.
- 35th overall for prevalence of mental illness and access to care.
1 in 6 Polk County residents: A 2019 Florida Department of Health survey showed one in six (17.5%) Polk County adults have been diagnosed with depressive disorder. That number goes up to almost 22% for white women and 28% for Black women.
One in seven (14%) Polk adults said they had poor mental health for half the month in the last 30 days. Post-pandemic figures are not yet available.
Florida teens are struggling: A 2021 survey of Florida high school students illustrates the mental health crisis affecting state’s children:
- 39% said they felt sad or hopeless.
- 18% had considered suicide.
- 14% had made a suicide plan.
- 9% had attempted suicide.
The upside
Slate praised Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd for his leadership in asking Polk voters to put a half-cent sales tax in place to pay for a program called Helping HANDS, which helps jail inmates with mental health issues transition back into society.
Wraparound services for inmates: The Polk County Jail is the largest mental health facility in the county with, on average, about 100 inmates choosing to receive treatment there.
Judd and 16 agencies that deal with mental health issues came together in February to announce the expansion of Helping HANDS into the “Substance Treatment Advocacy Recovery and Reentry Program ” or STARR. The program ensures that inmates receive counseling and medication while incarcerated and follow-up services upon release.
Judd said Tuesday that the County Commission has committed $1 million to the program with the idea that treating people is less expensive than incarcerating them and can lower crime rates in the community.
Rehab instead of jail: Slate noted that the 10th Judicial Circuit, which includes Polk, Highlands and Hardee counties, has a Problem-Solving Court, also known as a Drug Court, that can help addicts trapped in a revolving door of substance abuse and incarceration. People charged with non-violent offenses can complete counseling and rehabilitation programs and have their charges dropped. Not all circuits in Florida offer the program.
New behavioral health center: Lakeland Regional Health last year opened a new $46 million Harrell Family Center for Behavioral Health. The new center offers transcranial magnetic stimulation, one of the latest treatments for depression that is seeing long-lasting success.
More school counselors: Polk County Public Schools has increased the number of counselors on hand to help students, although there is still a shortage.
Expanded Medicaid might help
Two people in the audience, including a mental health worker and a couple who lost their grandson to suicide, asked what they can do to help.
Slate said that — although Gov. Ron DeSantis has increased funding for treatment of mental illness — one of the stumbling blocks for treatment in Florida is DeSantis’ refusal to accept federal matching funds to expand Medicaid. People can write to their legislators or the governor about that.
“The last time I looked, I think there’s 10 states that are not accepting (funds to expand) Medicaid,” Slate said.
He pointed out that in Idaho, the Sheriffs Association lobbied for Proposition 2 forcing the state to expand Medicaid. The measure took effect in 2020. “And why did they do that? They do not want people with mental illness in their jail,” Slate said.
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, help is available 24/7 by calling 988, the national suicide and crisis lifeline, or 211, the local crisis intervention hotline for free confidential help.
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