Misinformation

There is so much about the Mark Staskal situation that makes me want to scream. The amount of misinformation that increased the fear factor in the community was staggering. And it has been awful to not be able to correct some of the information. Jason Standish’s decision not to take on this client was probably a very difficult one, but I think I might have made the same decision given the horrible situation that he has been placed in due to wrong information out there in the media.

I spent a large part of my week trying to get good information to my neighborhood. At this point, its too late, but I thought people might be interested in seeing more information about this state program under which Staskal was placed here.

Wisconsin Conditional Release Process

• When a person is found Not Guilty by Reason of Mental Disease or Defect, the court has two options:

1. Order the person to be placed directly on Conditional Release in the community (CR), or
2. Order the person to Institutional Placement – if on Institutional placement the person can petition the court for release into the community on CR every six months

• In either case, when the court deems the person safe to be placed in the community on CR, the court orders the Department of Health and Family Services (DHFS), in concert with its contracted providers, to prepare a CR plan. Community placement cannot occur until the court approves the plan
• CR plans address two key elements and comprehensively address these elements, these elements are

1. Public safety, and
2. The person’s treatment needs

• It is also important to note that it is a Conditional Release, which means there are conditions to which the person must adhere and failure to do so, or any evidence of an increase in risk, will result in the person being returned to an Institution
• Last year, 410 people were served by the program throughout the State of Wisconsin, out of this total, 6% were returned to Institutional placement due to safety concerns resulting from violations of their conditions or an increase in symptoms. Only 1% (4 persons) of this number committed new crimes, and all were non-violent crimes. These data are typical of the success of the program
• A variety of options in regard to protection of public safety are available and are put into place dependent on the specific factors involved in a particular case, these options include:

1. Type of placement/living situation including an option of placement in a supervised living situation with 24/7 monitoring
2. Escorted community outings with monitoring of all activities outside of the home
3. Options for various forms of electronic monitoring
4. Limitations on where the person is allowed to go
5. Regular monitoring of mental status and other risk factors
6. Specific conditions related to taking medications and participating in treatment
7. Other options and conditions as deemed appropriate

• In regard to the person’s treatment needs, an individualized comprehensive treatment plan is put into place to address necessary elements to maintain the person’s stability
• Supervision of all aspects of the plan is provided by both an assigned case manager and a probation and parole agent via a contract with the Department of Corrections. The agent, case manager, and DHFS CR specialist work as a core team in providing the required supervision
• The Wisconsin CR program has an outstanding record and has been recognized nationally as a leader in providing CR services

If you didn’t know the above, you might think that this guy would just be out wandering around in the community unsupervised and with no services. This has been a difficult process and something I will not soon forget. I really do think that with some thoughtful consideration and good information for the community about safety plans that are in place and also honored Mark’s right to privacy and some information for the public about schizophrenia, this guy could have been successfully placed in our community at this location. And I think that Mark Staskal, the group home and the community were all done a huge disservice in this process. The media, the right to privacy laws, the public’s fear of mental illness and lots of misinformation made this situation very difficult for everyone involved. In the end, I think that the circumstances made it too difficult for him to be placed here. And while some might be rejoicing that this person will not be in our community, I remain convinced that there are so many things wrong with the way this whole thing happened.