News stories tagged with "mental-illness"

(07/26/06) Family members whose loved ones died while in solitary confinement in state prison, are urging Governor Pataki to sign a bill banning the practice for prisoners with diagnosed mental illness. Karen DeWitt reports.

(06/18/06) The Champlain Valley chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness gives its top award to Judge Penelope Clute in Plattsburgh tonight. It's an unusual partnership. The criminal justice system isn't well suited to dealing with the mentally ill. Jails and prisons are the de facto asylums of our times. Judge Clute is breaking ground in Clinton County, with a court specifically designed for people with severe mental illness. Mental health court codifies a team approach that brings the mental health and the justice systems together. It gives people with mental illness new opportunities to stay out of jail, and the "system" new leverage to intervene. There are only eight other courts like it in the state. Gregory Warner went to court, and has this story.

(04/26/06) The Ogdensburg city council passed a resolution Monday night supporting the civil confinement of violent sexual predators at the St Lawrence Psychiatric Center. Up to 80 offenders could be confined for an indefinite period after their release from prison, when the facility opens this winter. Supporters say it will mean up to 180 new jobs, but there's still lingering public opposition to the plan.

(06/20/05) Some 2 million Americans intentionally injure themselves to cope with emotionally overwhelming feelings or situations. It's often called self-injury, or self-mutilation, or just "cutting". Krista is 15. She started cutting several years ago. She went to the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center twice for her behavior. She now lives in a foster home in Potsdam. Krista has stopped cutting. But like many people with an addiction, recovery is a constant struggle. As a part of our series Raise Your Voice: Stories from North Country Teens, Krista prepared this audio diary. A warning: some listeners, especially young children, may find the subject matter in this story difficult to listen to.

(06/28/02) A new report issued today argues that the 67,000 inmates in New York's prison system need better health care - and mental health counseling. Eleven percent of the state's prisoners are diagnosed with mental illness. Brian Mann talks with Jennifer Wynn, with the Correctional Association of New York, which issued the study.

The Department of Correctional Services declined to be interviewed to respond to the report, instead issuing a press release.