The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

The discussion at the Capitol Plaza hotel was the first step by the Vermont Association for Mental Health as it tries to develop a system ensuring that former inmates are getting the food stamps and Social Security benefits they are entitled to as soon as they leave prison.

"The corrections system has become, unfortunately, a place where many mental health and substance abuse clients end up," said Ken Libertoff, director of the Vermont Association for Mental Health.

A vast majority, up to 85 percent by some estimates, of roughly 2,000 people in Vermont's prisons suffer from mental illness, substance addiction or both, according to the state.

Government officials, including Gov. James Douglas, agreed that the issue needs to be addressed.

Douglas said the state's prison population, which had been relatively stable in recent years, is now on the rise again.

"We can't afford for that to happen," he said.

In addition, the state's projected decline in high school graduates and low unemployment means that employers need all the productive workers they can get — including former inmates.

Re-establishing federal benefits for inmates is "a significant issue which must be addressed throughout the agency," said Cynthia LaWare, deputy secretary of human services.

The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, a nonprofit group in Washington, D.C., is supporting the Vermont Association of Mental Health's work in the area with a two-year grant of about $60,000 a year. The center is also supporting similar programs in Maryland and Minnesota.

For inmates who have a psychiatric disorder, the daunting task of applying for federal benefits becomes even more difficult, according to Eileen Elliott, a lawyer and former deputy secretary of human services who has been hired as a consultant by Vermont Association for Mental Health. That is why it is important to ensure that those inmates get help in completing the paperwork, she said.

Part of the Bazelon Center's proposal is that states enact laws establishing a program to help mentally ill and addicted inmates regain federal benefits when they leave prison.

If such a bill is proposed by mental health advocates to the Vermont Legislature, it might result in a disagreement with administration officials, who said Thursday that state government is already poised to take on the task without additional legislation.

"The good news in Vermont is that we do not need legislation to do these things," LaWare said.

Many of the suggested changes in state policy — for instance, temporarily suspending instead of canceling Medicaid benefits while offenders are in prison — are either being done already in Vermont or can be done without legislation, state officials said.

Indeed the Agency of Human Services reorganization has already paved the way for a more comprehensive approach to preparing inmates for release, said Suzanne Santarcangelo, deputy commissioner of the Department of Developmental & Mental Health Services.

And instead of ensuring that prisoners' benefits are suspended rather than terminated during prison terms, she said, the system should concentrate on making sure that departing inmates are enrolled in services whether they were enrolled in the past or not.

"The goal of the work is to make sure someone walks out the door with their health care in place," Santarcangelo said.

But A.J. Ruben, supervising attorney for Vermont Protection and Advocacy Inc., a federally funded watchdog group, said he could assure those attending the meeting Thursday that there are problems in the way the system works now.

"There is a great need," he said. "When they are behind the bars, nobody really cares about them."

It is a good thing if the state can plan for the reintegration of inmates into society, as required by legislation passed earlier this year, Ruben said, but so far that is not happening.

Corrections Commissioner Robert Hofmann added that it is important to keep in mind that re-establishing benefits for the mentally ill inmates is important, but the ultimate goal should be returning former inmates to the workforce whenever possible.

Contact Louis Porter at louis.porter@rutlandherald.com.