A CALL FOR HELP ; Jails wind up being treatment centers by default – often in Jacksonville
By Derek Gilliam | |
Proquest LLC |
The largest provider of mental health services in
It has an
Rutherford,
About 33,000 calls for service relating to mentally ill people in
Rutherford said the numbers are indicative of a system that doesn't work. "A jail is not a therapeutic community," he said. "It's never going to be. It can't be and that's why they need to receive treatment in the community and not in jail."
Shoar said when he joined law enforcement 33 years ago services were available that are no longer provided today. One problem is money, but not just pure dollar amounts, he said.
"When we get them [dollars] we need to figure out how to spend them," Shoar said.
Shoar questioned how the state and federal money is allocated. He pointed out that
"Together they have more people than
For-profit companies also are issues.
Rutherford said some mental health services that are provided by for-profit companies shouldn't be.
"Some of the worst cases we get in the jail is mentally ill folks from an ALF [assisted living facility] who have left and haven't been reported missing," Rutherford said. "... That's a problem, folks. That needs to stop."
He also said some
"They [patients] are out on the streets for months until they end up at my jail ... but nobody reported them [missing], nobody is looking for them because their check is going to the representative payee, and you know what, they get that check whether they are there or not," Rutherford said.
Also, Rutherford said the structure of the statewide mental health system funnels people with mental health issues to
"So we need to look at how this statewide system is funneling them [the mentally ill] to
Hodgkins presented statistics from the
There are about 62,000 children in
Children are screened for mental illness and substance abuse issues at detention facilities, she said. Of those students, 2,140 were directed to have a full mental health assessment. But the problem is the Juvenile Assessment Center currently has one person processing the screenings.
"Our assessor can see 35 percent of the youth that need an assessment at the Juvenile Assessment Center," Hodgkins said. "So we have all these youths falling through the cracks because we don't have the resources to pay for more assessors."
Part of that problem will be addressed with a recently awarded grant from
She said the good news is statewide youth arrests have gone down 36 percent the past eight years. She said civil citations help cut youth arrests.
Hodgkins said research shows that if children with mental health issues receive treatment in elementary school, "you have a better chance of getting the family engaged and the youth engaged and getting treatment."
"But like a cruise ship or a big ship in the
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Wordcount: | 841 |
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