Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Cities And Counties Try To Reduce Number Of Imprisoned Mentally Ill Through Training, Support Centers
In many places, police, judges and elected officials increasingly are pointing out that a high proportion of people in jail are mentally ill, and that in many cases they shouldn鈥檛 be there. In recent years, many cities and counties have tried to reduce those numbers by training police to deal with mental health crises, creating mobile mental health units to assist officers, and establishing mental health support centers as an alternative to jail, among other measures. ... Earlier this month, a coalition including the Council of State Governments Justice Center, the American Psychiatric Foundation and the National Association of Counties kicked off a national campaign to encourage local jurisdictions to collect data on the jailed mentally ill and adopt strategies to avoid incarceration. In February, the MacArthur Foundation announced it would send a total of $75 million to jurisdictions interested in reducing unnecessary incarceration of people, including the mentally ill. (Ollove, 5/19)
Now a sign of just how entwined the criminal justice system is with mental illness. Next week, a clinical psychologist will take over as head of one of the country's largest jails - Cook County Jail in Chicago. On any given day, it houses some 9,000 inmates. Prison officials estimate that a third of them are mentally ill. (Block, 5/19)
A scathing new report by court-approved researchers paints a bleak picture of medical care in Illinois prisons, describing treatment delays, haphazard follow-up care, chaotic record-keeping and a litany of other problems that may have cut short the lives of some inmates. (5/20)
[Akimel O'odham tribe member Shannon] Rivers is a former addict. He says the reasons why Native Americans have such high rates of incarceration and substance abuse are complex. ... And there's a new problem: a recent FBI report shows the Mexican drug cartels are specifically targeting Indian Country. High unemployment on the reservations means many turn to trafficking and dealing. The cartels know the tribes lack law enforcement resources. (Morales, 5/20)
