The Criminal Justice System and Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

I haven't been able to stop thinking about the sad, sad case of Sky Walker. Since earlier this month, he has been held at the Portage County Jail, on a $2 million bond for two charges, one of which is the attempted murder of his mother, Gertrude Steuernagel. Steuernagel died on February 6th.

The case brings out too questions, none easy and none with ready answers. There is a transcript of an interview with Major Dennis Missimi, of the Portage County Sheriff’s Office that goes into detail about how Walker is doing. Relatives have been visiting him and he is not housed in "general population," but in the intake area, where he is being closely monitored. Major Missimi notes that the sheriff's department has received "Crisis Intervention Team Training" and that Walker is being evaluated by someone from the Kevin Coleman Center, which "specializes in treating people with mental disabilities." Major Missimi concludes:

We know that he shouldn’t be here and I know that the prosecutor’s office along with MRDD [Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities] and mental health are doing everything they can to try to find another facility. We just need to find that he’s eligible for and that will take him.

Our main concern is his safety and the safety of our staff. We’re going to continue doing what we’re doing and continue to respond to questions. Its just one of those things. You know we have never been faced with this before. This administration is one that wants to do best for the community so that’s what we are going to do.

"You know we have never been faced with this before." And now the Portage County Sheriff's Office is and, really, we all are, how can we find answers to "this" that are just, and that are ethical, and that take into account Sky Walker's diagnosis and situation?

In Washington state, House Bill 2078, "Concerning persons with developmental disabilities who are in correctional facilities or jail," proposes to reinstate medical and other services for people with developmental disabilities while they are incarcerated, according to yesterday's Tri-City Herald.

Currently, these services are lost while a person is in jail; the bill would also "direct the Developmental Disabilities Council to establish a screening tool for identifying when someone booked into a jail has a developmental disability, and provide training for corrections officers in how to handle those people while in jail." Beki Hissam is both the chaplain for Benton County jail in Washington and also the parent of an adult child with a developmental disability. She says:

"Corrections staff need supports in place when faced with the challenge of folks with developmental disabilities in the jai....Individuals with DD also need supports in place to help them understand an environment that is difficult for 'typical' people to understand. These are the most vulnerable people served in the correction facility."

The bill also directs Developmental Disabilities Council to establish a screening tool that would be used for someone who is booked into the jail and who has a developmental disability; requires that "people identified as having developmental disabilities be given reasonable accommodations while in jail"; and helps people with developmental disabilities after they are released from jail via a transition system.

The criminal justice system has a long way to go regarding accommodating individuals with developmental disabilities. What will be Sky Walker's future?

That's the question I can't stop thinking about.

Photo by abardwell.