Americans are dealing with more mental health crises than ever recorded in the history of our nation according to data from the Bureau of Justice statistics more than half of offenders in state prisons across the country report having mental health problems but just one in four gets the professional help they need while behind bars mental health is the focus of this year's annual New Jersey re-entry Corporation conference that's the state's largest nonprofit that helps remove barriers to employment for Citizens returning from jail or prison the agency argues more needs to be done to divert those with mental health problems away from incarceration and toward the right treatment and support making this an issue that should be in everyone's interest senior political correspondent David Cruz reports violence crime incarceration one leads to the other all exacerbated by poverty and a lack of Access to Health Care education and employment opportunities the Common Thread we're now collectively coming to understand is mental illness and the impact it has does it seem like we are understanding more or acknowledging more the role that Mental Health crisis play in all of these things yeah I think we're beginning to understand the role of mental health to go to your point much more acutely but what we're not doing is interrupting or interfering or providing diagnosis at the earliest possible time not providing treatment not providing the tools so yes we understand more from an academic or an intellectual perspective but institutions are still operating the same in front of a full house at St Peters University academics Social Workers Health Care Providers and clients of the New Jersey re-entry Corporation listen to panel discussions that included formerly incarcerated individuals sharing experiences and identifying the challenges they all face to just function in difficult times about 2 million times each year people with serious mental illness are booked into jail 2 million nearly one in four people shot and killed by police officers between 2015 and 2020 had a mental health condition about two in five people who are incarcerated have a history of mental illness that's about 37% in state prisons um and state and federal prisons and about 44% in local gels when you have someone who has a mental health issue and they're being treated with violence their souls become broken and what you get is a monster when you come out when they come out here into our societies now it's our families that's being harmed again it was different for me I shut down I was angry I was fighting for my life so I didn't go in there to meet new people I didn't go in there to mind anyone else's business because I didn't take a plea I had to fight for Tama so it's different I didn't even know know my ment to was in a dark place because again I was in fighting mode I was angry I was disconnected this is the 10th njrc re-entry conference coming off of a year that saw police involved killings of Naji SE Brooks and Patterson and Andrew Washington in Jersey City it's also a period where the state has expanded efforts like arrive together which pairs Mental Health crisis Specialists with police it's not a perfect program but it's at least a realization that not every confrontation requires a nightstick solution have we had enough time to figure out how much of an impact programs like that are having or is the jury still out no R together works it clearly works but we have to understand the importance of having Mental Health Providers to be part of the solution and that's our goal here is to understand the importance of diagnosis earlier treatment earlier providing individuals the tools and educating the public but it's slow walk to Universal understanding of all the factors involved in what separates the safe and sound from the troubled and incarcerated for Jim McGreevy it's a Daily Grind and conferences like this one serve to measure how far his program has come and how far it still needs to go I'm David Cruz NJ Spotlight news news