Stop mass incarceration of mentally ill patients

 I have worked as a nurse and healthcare provider for over thirty years with patients that suffer from mental illness, emotional disturbances, drug addiction including alcoholism. The treatment thats required  for these clients are extensive. These are broken people in every way. Most carry with a life time of traumatic experiences that render vulnerable in our society. Being a survivor of childhood abuse, incest, rape, a child bride, a single teen mom in  the urban cities has left me battle scared but knowledgable in the field of psychiatry for these specific groups. Children that come from dysfunctional families and dysfunctional environments  (8 out 10) will whine up with symptoms of depression, PTSD, low self esteem, and addictive destructive behaviors that can land them to prison. In prison there is little to no help in resolving the inner conflicts or assistance with dealing with the root of the problems. Law enforcement don't have the time, money or experience for those afflicted psychological/emotional maladies. These people are warehoused in county, state, are private homeland security prisons where they are vulnerable to neglect and abuse due to the low ratio of staff per client. I am petitioning the US government and its administration to improve the treatment of the mentally ill, emotional disturbed, drug addicted, and those that suffer from alcoholism by not incarcerating them, by giving them treatment facilities where they can rehabilatate their lives and deal extensively with the unresolved conflicts  that lead them to prison in the first place. This can help eliminate the high residual rate of this peculiar prison population.