Funding to treat state’s mentally ill inmates
The recent crisis relating to the mentally ill individuals who are sitting in local jails awaiting treatment in the state hospital brings to mind the importance of the legislature, jails, institutes, community providers and the judicial system to work together to find a solution.
As we look to the options to solve this crisis, we must also look at the issue of why this population is growing so dramatically. The number of adults with serious mental illness in Colorado prisons increased from 239 in 1991 to 3,802 in 2003. This is an increase from 3 percent to 20 percent of the total prison population. In recent years, Colorado taxpayers have been asked to vote on jail expansion projects because we have overburdened our local communities with mentally ill inmates. And now, these individuals sit in jail awaiting treatment from an overwhelmed state hospital.
One potential long-term solution to this growing problem is to invest in early intervention and treatment programs in the community. Colorado needs to look at expanding pilot projects and local efforts that have had a positive impact on the adult and juvenile population in the criminal justice system. By expanding funding to the community mental health centers, we could increase the capacity of those programs, and provide treatment to the individual before they reach the criminal justice system, or as an alternative to jail and prison time served.
It costs Colorado taxpayers an average of $28,000 per year to house an inmate in prison. It costs a little more than $3,000 per year to provide treatment to mentally ill consumers in the community system. Providing intervention and treatment at the community level is a clear alternative to expensive prison incarceration and overcrowded jails.
George DelGrosso, Executive Director, Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council, Denver
Rural electric co-ops plan to sell renewable credits
Re: “Co-op changes course on green energy,” Dec. 12 business news story.
Am I missing something? How is the Intermountain Rural Electric Association “changing course” in its attitude toward green energy? IREA is giving its members the “opportunity” to pay more money – on top of our rising utility bills – for renewable-energy projects carried out somewhere else. We don’t know where, and IREA doesn’t know where – just anywhere but IREA land! IREA members who donate $60-plus every year would serve a good cause but would not effect any change whatsoever in the attitude and conduct of their misguided leadership.
Remember when Xcel Energy’s WindSource supporters received lower utility bills than their neighbors? That was because natural gas-generated electricity was more expensive than the wind. This will happen more often in the future, as the costs of new coal plants exceed the costs of energy efficiency and wind.
IREA leadership, having made a behind-closed-doors decision to purchase part of a new coal plant, does not provide accurate or balanced information to the members about less expensive alternatives. That is why we formed IREA Voices. We encourage IREA members to check out our website for “the rest of the story”: www.ireavoices.org.
Jake Meffley, Centennial
What this decade ought to be called
Re: “Defining the aughts,” Dec. 12 Ed Quillen column.
I also recall reading an Ed Quillen column seven years ago with his suggestions for what to name the first decade of the 21st century. But now that we’re well into the decade, I think I have an appropriate label: the “ought-nots.” The words are homophones for “aught” and “naught.” But the primary reason for calling these years the ought-nots is in the events that have taken place that could have been avoided. I’ll list just a handful: Americans ought not to have elected George W. Bush in 2000 and ought not to have re-elected him in 2004; President Bush ought not to have misled the country into invading Iraq and ought not to have ignored its principal objectives in Afghanistan; the resulting chaos and civil war in Iraq ought not to have been allowed to develop and the further souring of relations in the Middle East and Europe ought not to have evolved; and the Republican-controlled federal government ought not to have botched the way it handled Hurricane Katrina.
Patrick Ivers, Laramie, Wyo.
MLK memorial in D.C.
Re: “Mayor urges Denverites: Give $2 each for King memorial in D.C.,” Dec. 14 news story.
With all due respect, Mr. Mayor, Denver Foundation and other leaders, is this really the most valuable way for $2 from every Denverite to be spent? What would the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. say? His legacy would be much better served if every Denverite gave $2 to a school, recreation center, health center, homeless shelter or food bank serving the most needy among us.
And, by the way, why did the planners of the D.C. memorial not just plan and build a memorial with the money they had? Surely the memorial did not have to cost $100 million. Priorities, people!
Cathy Wanstrath, Denver
Plans for a casino near Gettysburg memorial
Probably unbeknownst to most Coloradans, a casino has been proposed to be built only 1 mile from the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania. This proposal is in its final stages and will go before the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on Wednesday. The reason I bring this to your attention is that this proposal is a heresy against our nation and every American citizen should be concerned.
Every person living in the United States has been affected by the Battle of Gettysburg. Gettysburg was the turning point of the Civil War and was fought July 1-3, 1863. Fifty-one thousand lives were sacrificed for the sake of keeping the nation intact, nearly 17 times the loss of life on Sept. 11.
The idea of the “American hero” is ingrained into our national culture. To this day, it would be blasphemous to propose a casino to be built at Pearl Harbor. Just five years after Sept. 11, every American would be outraged at the idea of a casino at New York’s ground zero. Yet the American heroes christened at Pearl Harbor and on Sept. 11 share an eternal bond with the heroes of Gettysburg – they all sacrificed their lives for the sake of fellow Americans.
Ann Marie Bliley, Estes Park
Getting out of Iraq
With some U.S. trainers suggesting that the Iraqi army may never be able to operate completely on its own, it’s time for a serious reality check. Is standing down as Iraqis stand up a viable strategy if the timetable for that strategy is, essentially, forever?
Listening to the wishful thinking of naive neocons and their shills is what got us to where we are today in Iraq in the first place. Continuing to listen nicely fits the definition of insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. It is long past time to stop listening to pipe dreams and to return to reality-based policy in Iraq, at home and around the world. Blind faith is not a strategy.
Felice Sage, Littleton
…
Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., came out recently and said the Iraq war was “absurd” and he couldn’t support it any more. Senator Smith, what took you so long?
It has already been alleged that Saudi Arabia is funding the Sunni insurgents in Iraq. Guess what – Saudi Arabia has much more money than our broken-down treasury does, and they will spend what they have to, and we can thank the people of America for enriching the Saudis since we just can’t seem to stop burning their oil. What a deal. We fund them to kill our soldiers. They must be dying of laughter.
I call senators, congressmen, the governor, the White House and anyone else I can think of, daily, pleading that we quit stalling, like Bush is obviously trying to do, and to get off the dime. The media should grow a backbone and do the same.
Lynn Highland, Morrison
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