facilities for them. She said that
they need the basic necessities of
life, food and shelter, and when
the state hospitals do not have
facilities for them their basic
needs are not meet. Sometimes
the Penn State Hershey Medical
Center’s psychiatric department
will get walk-in patients who are
sent by shelters and sometimes
they walk in off the streets. “We
do not turn them away. If they
need help we provide it for them,
and if we see that their condition
is severe, we then admit them,”
she said. Aggarwal also said that
some of them they can help, while
others they cannot. Usually the
patient stays for four to five days.
“It depends on the patient, if they
need to stay longer they stay,” she
said.
The social implications that
come from the mentally ill
homeless having a hard time
receiving shelter and getting the
proper medical care they need
can lead to higher suicidal rates.
According to an article published
in 2003 by the Soc Psychiatry,
Psychiatry Epidemiology, there
is a high rate of suicidal behavior
among the mentally ill homeless,
but it is unknown whether the
homeless populations who are
not mentally ill also have a high
number of suicide rates.
According to the article, suicide
attempts were most common
in cases of younger mentally
ill homeless than compared to
the older mentally ill homeless.
Alcohol and drug abuse did not
seem to increase the thought
of suicide among homeless.
“However,asignificantinteraction
between age and substance abuse
was observed showing that among
older clients, those with drug and
alcohol abuse were at significantly
greater risk of suicidal ideation
than those without substance
abuse problems,” said publishers
of the article.
The growing rate of suicide
among the homeless is cause
for concern. Rates of suicide
attempts depend on the person’s
age, but depression is the main
cause of suicide with all ages. In
a study of first time homeless men
living on the streets, 7 percent
reporte thoughts of suicide
while approximately a third of
homeless men living in shelters
reported a past suicide attempt.
The growing number of homeless
people intensifies the need for
more people to understand their
situation.
A test conducted for this study
showed that in the past 30 days, 41
to 44 percent of suicidal thoughts
and suicide attempts were said to
be reported less among mentally
ill homeless of 30-39 years old.
The findings of the study show
that age, substance abuse, and
mental illness all play a factor
in suicide attempts and suicidal
thoughts among the homeless.
The economic status for mentally
ill homeless people is very cost
effective. Robert Rosenheck
said in the American Journal
2% in
of Psychiatry that about one
quarter of homeless Americans
have serious mental illnesses,
and providing housing for them
is very cost effective to the
economy. Rosenheck grouped
the services provided for the
mentally ill homeless into three
categories: outreach programs,
case management and housing
payments. His study calculated
the cost of medical care for one
year for mentally ill homeless
veterans at approximately 8,000
dollars.
“The first published cost
effectiveness study case for
homeless people compared
a broker case management
intervention,” said Rosenheck.
He said the case management
places clients in treatment
programs, which exceed 9,000
dollars per client. The cost for
PENNSYLVANIA’S HOMELESS
health treatment rose 3 percent
over one year. “The goal of
specialized homeless service
programs must ultimately be to
transition clients into mainstream
housing,” said Rosenheck. The
cost for providing services to
the mentally ill homeless is high
considering that less than half of
them are taking advantage of the
housing and medical services.
A study on homeless, mental
illness, and criminal activity
examined the severity of
psychological symptoms between
THE CAPITAL TIMES
10% mixed
street homeless and sheltered
homeless, and whether housing
and living on the streets played
a role in their criminal activities.
The 207 mentally ill homeless
participants were interviewed nine
times over four years. The study
found that mentally ill homeless
were more likely to be arrested
From endhomelssness.org
for minor offenses like camping
without a permit or indecent
exposure. Other researchers
found that they were charged
with trespassing, sleeping in
abandoned buildings or sleeping
on park benches.
PSH Police Services Officer
Divonzo said that police will
make homeless leave parks so
that they do not appear to be a
blemish on the state. “It’s mainly
political,” he said. The system is
structured to treat the mentally ill
homeless differently. According
November 4,2009
There is little evidence to back
up the relationship between
homeless and nonviolent crimes
impared to violent crimes,
[n fact research suggests that
iple with mental illness
have a modestly higher rate of
committing violent crimes than
that of the general population,”
said Mulvey E.P., author of the
journal, Hospital and Community
Psychiatry. Homeless men were
generally no different than that
of the general population in
committingviolent crimes. Arrests
among mentally ill homeless men
and the general population did not
statistically differ or were lower
for minder, rape, and aggravated
assault, although robbery rates
were significantly higher for
mentally ill homeless males.
to Divonzo, officers are supposed
to take homeless to a mental
health institution, but reality of the
situation is that the police officers
may not be able to identify them
as mentally ill, and the homeless
will most likely be sent to regular
prison.
Some prisons do a better job
with treating mental illness,
said Divonzo. Some will take
into account the nature of the
prisoners’ illness, the nature of
the crime, and use the resources
that are available to them. On
the other hand, some prisons
just treat them like any other
criminal.
Homeless individuals may
adopt some illegal activities
such as theft in order to get by. In
most cases, Divonzo said when
a homeless person commits
a nonviolent crime the police
often don’t give them citations,
because they would not have the
means to pay the fines. If they
(receive more than one citation
and cannot pay them, they are
taken to court. If a judge is
available for misdemeanors, the
>eless individual will often be
. at Night Court right away.
The study found that homeless
lividuals are less prone to
final activities when they
confined in a homeless
lelter where they are given the
fistance they need. Divonzo
id there are rarely cases of
leless with mental illness
imitting violent crimes. In
itown Harrisburg, homeless
hardly ever jailed. When
;y are jailed, it is often so
they can cool off. “In other
les some mentally ill homeless
r e been tasered or shot by the
;burg police, because the
icer didn’t know how to handle
; situations,” said Divonzo. He
to said that it depends on the
leers’ training in how to deal
. with these types of situations