Mentally Ill at Risk in County Jails, Study Says
28 years ago

Mentally Ill at Risk in County Jails, Study Says

LA Times  

TIMES STAFF WRITER A panel of medical experts retained by the U.S. Department of Justice has issued a scathing report accusing Los Angeles County of providing woefully inadequate--if not downright dangerous--care to mentally ill inmates in the county jails. Providing a sobering glimpse into the county’s deteriorating jail system, the panel has assailed the Sheriff’s Department and county mental health officials for housing scores of mentally ill inmates in cramped, dingy cells where they receive little treatment. While inmate advocacy groups say living conditions are bad for inmates in the general population, it is worse, they say, for the mentally ill, who are kept in small, poorly lit cellblocks--referred to by sheriff’s deputies as the “ding tanks.” “We observed cell after cell crowded with inmates who were psychotic or severely depressed and getting worse,” the report said. Mental health personnel admitted to investigators that little or no effort is made to treat the mentally ill inmates who are not “high impact” or actively suicidal. Bobb suggested county mental health officials increase the staffing of mental health workers and improve the drug prescription and delivery system to better manage the care of mentally ill inmates.

Health Mental Report Department Inmates System Ill Jails County Jail Mentally Ill Mentally Crowell Mentally Ill Inmates Inmate Trusties  report  inmates  department  risk  study  ill  mental  county  jail  jails  mentally  system  health

History of this topic

Hawaii to open prisons and jails for inspection of mental health services
1 week ago

Hawaii to open prisons and jails for inspection of mental health services

Associated Press  

Hawaiʻi has agreed to open its prisons and jails for inspection by two national experts who will assess the state’s troubled inmate mental health services. Attorney Eric Seitz filed the 2019 class-action lawsuit against the state, alleging corrections officials “subject people with serious mental illnesses to extreme isolation with little or no mental health treatment.” The suit was originally filed …

Texas’ overcrowded and understaffed jails send people awaiting trial to other counties and states
7 months, 2 weeks ago

Texas’ overcrowded and understaffed jails send people awaiting trial to other counties and states

Associated Press  

Two Saturdays a month, Sorcha Costigan climbs into her Jeep and drives 100 miles from Sabine County into Louisiana, all the while worrying about another vehicle part malfunctioning and how much the gas is going to cost. “It’s more about enforcement.” Law enforcement officials say jail space must increase, though residents opposed to tax increases to fund expensive construction costs …

People detained under the Mental Health Act dying at three times the rate of those held in prisons
11 months, 1 week ago

People detained under the Mental Health Act dying at three times the rate of those held in prisons

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy People detained under the Mental …

Some who are mentally ill remain in L.A. County jails after charges are dropped, report says
1 year ago

Some who are mentally ill remain in L.A. County jails after charges are dropped, report says

LA Times  

Disability Rights California, a nonprofit that advocates for people with disabilities, criticized Los Angeles County for transferring mentally ill people in conservatorships to locked facilities only. People with mental illnesses who are in conservatorships are being held in Los Angeles County jails even after their criminal charges are dropped, according to a report released Tuesday by Disability Rights California. According …

Vulnerable prisoner serving indefinite jail term held in isolation for 800 days
1 year, 2 months ago

Vulnerable prisoner serving indefinite jail term held in isolation for 800 days

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Prisoners with mental health needs …

These Oklahomans needed mental health care. Instead, they died in jail.
1 year, 3 months ago

These Oklahomans needed mental health care. Instead, they died in jail.

Raw Story  

Lena Corona was sitting on the porch of her Seminole home, blood dripping from her hand, when police arrived at 2:45 a.m. State laws guiding mental health and addiction care in jails are vague, leaving it up to jail officials to decide how often to check on sick or suicidal detainees, or when to seek emergency treatment. Last year, 28 …

Women in mental health crisis still being jailed in prisons deemed ‘unfit for purpose’, review warns
1 year, 4 months ago

Women in mental health crisis still being jailed in prisons deemed ‘unfit for purpose’, review warns

The Independent  

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Many women and health providers view the prison environment as “unfit for purpose”, while …

Jail and prison will never be places a person with mental illness finds healing
2 years, 6 months ago

Jail and prison will never be places a person with mental illness finds healing

LA Times  

Luis Garcia, who works for Advocates for Human Potential, writes about how he found hope and success after being incarcerated. Seeking access to mental health care in jail and prison wasn’t easy. Recent reports reveal access to mental health care in California’s state prison system continues to fall short. The county remains woefully out of compliance more than six years …

Have American jails become the inferior replacement for mental hospitals?
2 years, 6 months ago

Have American jails become the inferior replacement for mental hospitals?

Salon  

London's Bedlam psychiatric hospital is infamous today for how its staff brutally abused their patients. Niloofar Ramezani, assistant professor of statistics at George Mason University and corresponding author of the study, told Salon by email that "to our knowledge, this study is the only national-level study that examines whether the supply of community-based health services, including mental health services, influences …

Letters to the Editor: Jail is no place to treat mental illness. So what should L.A. County do?
2 years, 10 months ago

Letters to the Editor: Jail is no place to treat mental illness. So what should L.A. County do?

LA Times  

Los Angeles jails are the largest providers of mental health services in the county. To the editor: Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Terry Lee Smerling laments the number of mentally ill defendants in court who cannot be diverted to mental health treatment because of insufficient resources — yet in the same issue of The Times, a news article shows …

Op-Ed: The mentally ill defendants in my courtroom need treatment, not jail
2 years, 10 months ago

Op-Ed: The mentally ill defendants in my courtroom need treatment, not jail

LA Times  

Thousands of criminal defendants in the L.A. County superior courts are identified as having mental illness, but there aren’t sufficient funds to provide them treatment. To make the “care first, jails last” vision a reality, the county must invest much more in the professionals who conduct mental health evaluations in the courts, the people who connect defendants to services, and …

Kansas inmates wait months for mental health treatment
3 years, 5 months ago

Kansas inmates wait months for mental health treatment

Associated Press  

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Inmates with mental health issues are waiting months to get the medication and treatment they need to be deemed competent to assist in their own defense because a state hospital is so overtaxed. Douglas County Sheriff Jay Armbrister said the situation is so bad that the case of one man with severe mental health issues took six …

Provide Solace To The Mentally Ill Prisoners: Kerala High Court Directs State To Set Up Mental Health Unit In At Least One Prison
3 years, 7 months ago

Provide Solace To The Mentally Ill Prisoners: Kerala High Court Directs State To Set Up Mental Health Unit In At Least One Prison

Live Law  

Addressing the plight of mentally ill prisoners, the Kerala High Court recently directed the State to set up a mental health establishment in at least one prison for their well-being as per Section 103 of the Mental Healthcare Act. Referring to the said quote, the Single Judge remarked: ".the system and the society presume the voiceless mentally ill prisoners, embroiled …

Tasmania's Prison Mental Health Care Taskforce reveals system failing inmates, advocates say
4 years, 5 months ago

Tasmania's Prison Mental Health Care Taskforce reveals system failing inmates, advocates say

ABC  

Tasmanian prisoner advocates say inmates with mental health issues are leaving custody in worse condition than when they were incarcerated, with some forced off their medications due to poor administrative processes. Key points: A report says there is an absence of specialist mental health care for inmates with severe mental illness Advocates say Tasmania has only two full-time equivalent mental …

L.A. County can help thousands of mentally ill inmates avoid arrest and homelessness, study finds
5 years, 2 months ago

L.A. County can help thousands of mentally ill inmates avoid arrest and homelessness, study finds

LA Times  

More than 60% of the inmates with a mental illness in the Los Angeles County Jail would be eligible for diversion if there were more facilities capable of providing supportive care, according to a study released Tuesday. Such a move would save the county hundreds of dollars a day in incarceration costs for each inmate and, for many, end a …

Editorial: 2019 was the year L.A. County finally said ‘no’ to new jails
5 years, 3 months ago

Editorial: 2019 was the year L.A. County finally said ‘no’ to new jails

LA Times  

What should be a responsible politician’s approach to an aging, poorly designed, dungeon-like men’s jail that endangers inmates and law enforcement personnel alike? For years, the answers for Los Angeles County supervisors seemed plain, if uninspiring: Tear down Men’s Central Jail in downtown L.A. Move the general inmate population into the adjacent Twin Towers jail, which now houses mentally ill …

Mental illness behind bars: The hard lessons of Orleans Parish
5 years, 4 months ago

Mental illness behind bars: The hard lessons of Orleans Parish

Salon  

In May of 2016, not long after his release from a psychiatric hospital, Colby Crawford, a 23-year old black man, was booked into the Orleans Justice Center — a new $150-million-dollar jail opened a year earlier to replace the crumbling and now shuttered Orleans Parish Prison complex, and touted as a symbol of a more progressive approach to incarceration in …

Prisoner mental health services attacked in damning Inspector of Custodial Services report
6 years, 4 months ago

Prisoner mental health services attacked in damning Inspector of Custodial Services report

ABC  

A third of prisoners deemed so unwell they are referred involuntarily to Western Australia's only secure mental health centre are never admitted and stay in jail instead, a damning report has found. Key points: The Frankland Centre has not expanded its 30 beds in 25 years In the same time period, the prison population has tripled The Inspector of Custodial …

America Can't Incarcerate Away Our Mental Health Crisis
6 years, 9 months ago

America Can't Incarcerate Away Our Mental Health Crisis

Huff Post  

People with mental illness need nurses and physicians, not correctional officers. “Though he was supposedly sent to the prison for psychiatric care, Butler reported being tasered and pepper-sprayed by staff.” I’ve cared for many ill patients in my career, but inmates with mental illness tend to experience far more severe illness than psychiatrically hospitalized patients. “Our criminal justice and mental …

The mistreatment and abuse of mentally ill patients is a national disgrace
6 years, 11 months ago

The mistreatment and abuse of mentally ill patients is a national disgrace

The Independent  

Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy …

Treating and housing the mentally ill is harder than jailing them. But it might actually work
7 years, 1 month ago

Treating and housing the mentally ill is harder than jailing them. But it might actually work

LA Times  

If only we could make Les Jones’ story more commonplace. It literally saved my life.” — Les Jones That post-war spirit of can-do optimism contrasted with the barbaric mental health treatment of the time. Some mental health professionals and elected officials believe the answer is to roll back laws that limit the ability to forcibly commit people who can’t or …

California’s mentally ill inmate population keeps growing. And state money isn’t enough to meet needs, lawmaker says
7 years, 1 month ago

California’s mentally ill inmate population keeps growing. And state money isn’t enough to meet needs, lawmaker says

LA Times  

Jerry Brown has earmarked $117 million in his new state budget to expand the number of treatment beds and mental health programs for more than 800 mentally ill inmates found incompetent to stand trial. If the Legislature approves the governor’s budget, the state funds earmarked by Brown would help counties create or expand mental health programs that divert inmates away …

Record high levels of prisoner self-harm a 'damning indictment' of failures in mental health provision in jails
7 years, 3 months ago

Record high levels of prisoner self-harm a 'damning indictment' of failures in mental health provision in jails

The Independent  

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Record high levels of self-harm in prisons are a “damning …

Young offenders deprived of psychology services amid 'epidemic' of mental health problems in prisons
7 years, 3 months ago

Young offenders deprived of psychology services amid 'epidemic' of mental health problems in prisons

The Independent  

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Children in custody are facing a “significant shortfall” in mental …

Government fails to track mental health in UK prisons amid soaring suicide and self-harm rates, report finds
7 years, 9 months ago

Government fails to track mental health in UK prisons amid soaring suicide and self-harm rates, report finds

The Independent  

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The Government does not know how many people in prisons …

Inmates at Pentonville prison facing ‘totally unacceptable’ delays in mental health provision, report finds
7 years, 9 months ago

Inmates at Pentonville prison facing ‘totally unacceptable’ delays in mental health provision, report finds

The Independent  

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Inmates at Pentonville Prison are facing “totally unacceptable” delays in …

Mental health patients are being treated as criminals and sent to prisons rather than hospitals
7 years, 11 months ago

Mental health patients are being treated as criminals and sent to prisons rather than hospitals

The Independent  

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The number of beds available for …

Judge lets homeless ex-inmates fight for mental health services
8 years, 10 months ago

Judge lets homeless ex-inmates fight for mental health services

LA Times  

An inmate sleeps on the fourth floor of Twin Towers Correctional Facility, which is reserved for those with the highest medical and psychiatric needs. A federal judge said Tuesday that a group of homeless people can continue to fight Los Angeles County in court over jail release policies that they claim perpetuate the cycle of inmates with untreated mental illness …

Man accused of stealing $5 worth of snacks dies in jail waiting for space at mental hospital
9 years, 6 months ago

Man accused of stealing $5 worth of snacks dies in jail waiting for space at mental hospital

The Independent  

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “It looked like he was 67 years old.” …

L.A. County to relocate some inmates, build jail to treat the mentally ill
9 years, 7 months ago

L.A. County to relocate some inmates, build jail to treat the mentally ill

LA Times  

An inmate at the high observation mental health housing in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles. Setting a future course for the troubled Los Angeles County jail system, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a plan to move at least 1,000 mentally ill offenders out of lockups and voted to build a state-of-the-art jail focused on mental …

Editorial: Treatment, not just jail, for the mentally ill
9 years, 7 months ago

Editorial: Treatment, not just jail, for the mentally ill

LA Times  

The U.S. Department of Justice and Los Angeles County officials are negotiating the details of a consent decree to govern the treatment of mentally ill inmates in the troubled county jails, following more than a decade of reported abuse and excessive force by sheriff’s deputies. Petty crime, homelessness, veterans’ post-traumatic stress, jail management, drug abuse, excessive use of force and …

L.A. County task force suggests ways to divert mentally ill from jails
9 years, 8 months ago

L.A. County task force suggests ways to divert mentally ill from jails

LA Times  

Cutting the number of mentally ill inmates in Los Angeles County’s jail system would require spending tens of millions of dollars on new treatment facilities and housing for offenders who would otherwise be released into homelessness, a long-awaited report concludes. You give them a life and a place of their own, where they have the freedom to thrive.” The report …

Jailed, some mentally ill inmates land in lockdown
10 years, 6 months ago

Jailed, some mentally ill inmates land in lockdown

Associated Press  

Day or night, the lights inside cell 135C of central New Mexico’s Valencia County Detention Center were always on. “At many jails and prisons around the country, solitary confinement has become kind of the default placement for the mentally ill,” says Dr. James Gilligan, a New York University psychiatrist and lead author of the first study, who has worked in …

Jails struggle to deal with flood of mentally ill
10 years, 8 months ago

Jails struggle to deal with flood of mentally ill

Associated Press  

CHICAGO — The numbers, posted daily on the Cook County sheriff’s website, would be alarming at an urgent care clinic, let alone a jail: On a Wednesday, 36 percent of all new arrivals report having a mental illness. “Every morning I hear this.” The Cook County Jail, with more than 10,600 inmates, is one of the country’s largest single-site jails. …

US jails struggle with role as makeshift asylums
10 years, 8 months ago

US jails struggle with role as makeshift asylums

Associated Press  

CHICAGO — Many of the 3,300 jails across the U.S. have seen a rise in the number of inmates with serious mental illnesses, most arrested for non-violent crimes. But as the number of those with serious mental illnesses surpasses 20 percent in some jails, many have struggled to keep up, sometimes putting inmates in jeopardy. “You’re not supposed to do …

Op-Ed: L.A. County needs to construct mental health programs, not just jails
10 years, 10 months ago

Op-Ed: L.A. County needs to construct mental health programs, not just jails

LA Times  

For decades, the county has spent untold amounts of public money to warehouse people with mental illnesses in the Los Angeles County jail. Now, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is considering a proposal to spend as much as $2.3 billion on a massive jail expansion, with a significant portion of that money going to facilities for mentally ill …

Mentally Ill Are Often Locked Up In Jails That Can't Help
11 years, 2 months ago

Mentally Ill Are Often Locked Up In Jails That Can't Help

NPR  

Mentally Ill Are Often Locked Up In Jails That Can't Help Mentally Ill Are Often Locked Up In Jails That Can't Help Listen · 10:45 10:45 Enlarge this image toggle caption Laura Sullivan/NPR Laura Sullivan/NPR Cook County, Ill., Sheriff Tom Dart walks the halls of his jail every day. "To walk in and feel like every other person I'm interviewing …

What Is The Role Of Jails In Treating The Mentally Ill?
11 years, 6 months ago

What Is The Role Of Jails In Treating The Mentally Ill?

NPR  

What Is The Role Of Jails In Treating The Mentally Ill? According to the Justice Department, people with psychological disorders are much more likely to be sexually victimized by fellow inmates: "An estimated 3.6 percent of, those identified with serious psychological distress reported inmate-on-inmate sexual victimization, compared to 0.7 percent of inmates with no indication of mental health problems." Sponsor …

Mentally ill patients sectioned unnecessarily as 'only way' to a hospital bed
11 years, 7 months ago

Mentally ill patients sectioned unnecessarily as 'only way' to a hospital bed

The Independent  

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The House of Commons Health Select Committee said it was shocked by “disturbing” evidence that …

The mentally ill need proper care
11 years, 7 months ago

The mentally ill need proper care

China Daily  

Many violent attacks by mentally challenged people have been reported recently. Center for Disease Control and Prevention data show that more than 16 million people in China suffer from severe mental disorders, while medical resources for their treatment are inadequate. In the absence of hospital beds and proper medical treatment and counseling, many mentally challenged people have to be kept …

The mentally ill need proper care
11 years, 7 months ago

The mentally ill need proper care

China Daily  

Many violent attacks by mentally challenged people have been reported recently. Center for Disease Control and Prevention data show that more than 16 million people in China suffer from severe mental disorders, while medical resources for their treatment are inadequate. In the absence of hospital beds and proper medical treatment and counseling, many mentally challenged people have to be kept …

Mentally ill unwanted and abandoned
12 years, 5 months ago

Mentally ill unwanted and abandoned

The Hindu  

This could be the worst nightmare for anybody to come across. Many point out that the police, with their own other workloads, take a lot of time in tracing back the families of the mentally ill. Till that time, the chronic mentally ill patients languish here with lack of any government programme or shelter homes to support them adding to …

U.S. Justice Dept. Investigates Alleged Mistreatment of Mentally Ill in County Jails
28 years, 9 months ago

U.S. Justice Dept. Investigates Alleged Mistreatment of Mentally Ill in County Jails

LA Times  

TIMES STAFF WRITER The Los Angeles County jail system--caretaker of a vast population of mentally ill inmates--is the target of a U.S. Justice Department investigation of allegations that those prisoners have been mistreated and deprived of their constitutional rights, officials said Thursday. “The purpose of the investigation,” Patrick said, “is to determine whether conditions in the jail system violate the …

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