In what’s billed as a first step toward slashing the population of county jails, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, April 4, voted to begin the process of establishing 500 secure mental health care beds to accommodate the most seriously ill county jail inmates.
The ultimate objective is to create “care-first settings which would allow for those with serious mental illness to stabilize and recover — a process which is increasingly difficult in an overcrowded jail setting,” according to the board motion by Supervisors Hilda Solis and Janice Hahn.
“Too many people who are locked up in our jails have serious mental illness and are suffering and decompensating instead of receiving the treatment they need,” Hahn said in a statement following the vote. “These 500 beds in secure mental health facilities will allow us to better treat people with the most severe mental health needs while preserving public safety.”
According to the motion, more than 1,700 inmates, or roughly 12% of the jail’s population, are considered among the most seriously mental ill, categorized as P3 or P4. Category P3 individuals are those “who are hurting themselves and prone to recurrent violence” and “cannot be safely or adequately treated in a setting that requires independent control of their behavior,” according to the board motion. P4 individuals present a danger of “harm to themselves and others” and are “prone to refuse treatment and extremely disorganized thinking and behavior.”
The 500 beds will be prioritized for inmates in both categories.
The motion also directs the Department of Health Services, the Department of Diversion and Re-entry, the Department of Mental Health, the District Attorney and public defenders to work with the Chief Executive Office to develop a budget for the beds, including proposed staffing, and report back with a list of funding available from state and federal sources.
“We have people entering in and out of homelessness, cycling in and out of our jails, filling our already crowded emergency departments and our jails becoming de facto mental health facilities — none of this promotes public safety or rehabilitation and recovery,” Solis said in a statement. “To truly become a `care first’ county, we must expand the assets in our community to support our most vulnerable residents.”
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diane mendez says
There is not one-fit-all. This open setting could be idea for some, but for a truly severe MH individual, lets say with schizophrenia, with audio or visual hallucinations, this setting could result in assaults to others or the individual himself/herself. Even with medication compliance, if the medication is not working for the individual, doesn’t eliminate the hallucinations, there could be a problem. Individuals, such as these, SHOULD NOT be isolated either since it is a proven fact that their mental health state only worsens, but they do need more of a smaller/manageable setting. I speak this from experience with severe mental health loved ones.
Sam says
Again, it’s a futile exercise that is not going to serve the population and its a waste of Tax payers money. What if the inmate refuses to seek help or comply to treatment and medications. Here we have bunch of Probationary Officers who are unable to ensure treatment for released inmates from other County jails. Nor can the family members coordinate because of HIPPA. The only way the inmates of any other mentally ill population including homeless can get help is by force and mandatory detention and treatment in closed settings. Well that’s a hard pill to swallow. Go back prior to Regan era and lock and treat them .
Ronald L Deutschman says
I trust that the design of the accommodations of the facility will offer protection from each those who are living there. From the picture shown I can see mentally ill people causing harm to each other because of the open area environment.
Tim Scott says
Isolation cells are only appropriate in a very small fraction of cases.