A recent investigation found that people in Illinois who are deemed too mentally ill to stand trial are often left waiting for months in county jails for a bed in a state psychiatric hospital. One woman who was diagnosed with an intellectual disability and a psychiatric disability was declared unfit for trial and ordered to receive inpatient treatment but remained in Lake County jail because there were no beds available. Her condition rapidly declined, and she ultimately died after waiting 67 days without treatment for an available bed. Under Illinois state law people found unfit are supposed to be transferred to a hospital within a certain time period, but limited psychiatric beds cause delay.
When jails replace treatment, medical incarceration becomes the default, making it clear the need for community-based care that addresses psychiatric disability outside the criminal legal system.
