Dear FFIMI Friends and Supporters, As we work toward progressing our mission and vision, we have learned over the years that the only way to make significant, lasting, changes is through the avenue of legislation. Many larger organizations have a team of dedicated people to help with legislative advocacy efforts. However, as a relatively new, grassroots… Continue reading FFIMI Needs Your Help!
By Elizabeth Sinclair Hancq, Treatment Advocacy Center As discussed in the article, mental health advocates have avoided any associations of violence and mental illness, due to concerns of stigma, but as the author states, and members of FFIMI can personally attest to, "Failure to acknowledge associations with violence perpetration in turn risks leaving clinical needs unmet… Continue reading Severe Mental Illness and Violence, Revisited
January 04, 2022. Chris Lisinski, State House News Service In this story from WBUR, it is clear that accountability is needed to ensure that state funding for places of incarceration is used to provide expanded programming that individuals in correctional facilities can access. This is good for incarcerated individuals' mental health and for the community… Continue reading Correction spending rises while incarcerated population declines in Massachusetts
By Kelli South is the research associate at the Treatment Advocacy Center. Incarcerated individuals with serious mental illness are much more likely to be placed in solitary confinement compared to incarcerated individuals without serious mental illness. There is a wealth of research that shows the deleterious effects that solitary confinement can have on an individual, including increasing rates of depression, anxiety and… Continue reading Alternative to Solitary Confinement Offers Promising Results for Inmates
While the SJC ponders the “legalized kickbacks” of telecom contracts, lawmakers can fix this now. By Boston Globe - The Editorial Board - Updated November 3, 2021 It’s a relatively simple proposition: Good corrections policy that helps those behind bars maintain family ties can lead to better outcomes — like lower recidivism rates and more successful reentry… Continue reading Charging for prison phone calls burdens families
FFIMI would like to share an opportunity to make a difference in the life of an incarcerated individual. MASC (Massachusetts Against Solitary Confinement) is coordinating this pen pal program and this week they received 15 new requests for pen pals from people who are incarcerated! They now have 31 people who are waiting to be pen pals with… Continue reading Pen Pals for Incarcerated Individuals Needed!
by Lawrence Bartley I didn’t always detest this term. But hearing officers use it as an insult reminded me to call incarcerated people — including myself — by our names. “Stop talking to me like I’m some fu***n’ inmate!” I overheard my prison employer screaming into the phone receiver. He was replaying an encounter with… Continue reading I Am Not Your ‘Inmate’
by Laura Walsh, FFIMI Member The journey of having a loved one who not only struggles with mental illness, but is also justice involved, is a long, arduous path, often fraught with confusion and painful feelings of isolation. When my family entered this new reality, I had no idea how to navigate it. It felt… Continue reading Introducing FFIMI RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
By Donna Winant, FFIMI Director The mission of Family and Friends of Individuals with Mental Illness (FFIMI) is to advocate for persons suffering from Serious Mental Illness (SMI) and involved in the criminal justice system: to assure they are provided a continuum of proper psychiatric care, treatment, and services across the entire spectrum of the… Continue reading A Model of Care
By Kelli South of Treatment Advocacy CenterCo-response teams involving both police officers and mental health providers are becoming more widely used for response to crisis calls involving people with mental illnesses. As these programs grow in popularity across the United States, there is not yet a large amount of research available proving the efficacy of such crisis response… Continue reading From Treatment Advocacy Center: Co-Responding Police and Mental Health Team Reduces Likelihood of Arrest
Family and Friends of Individuals with Mental Illness ~ Advocating for those who are Justice Involved 