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Using jails for mental health treatment an expensive, counterproductive approach

The Houston Chronicle yesterday published an excellent feature by Bill Murphy ("Finding escape behind bars, July 22,") focused on mental health treatment at the Harris County Jail, reporting that:During a recent survey, county officials found that more than 400 of the jail's 11,000 inmates were homeless and suffered from a major mental illness: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or a chronic depressive-psychotic disorder. They were among 1,900 inmates on psychotropic medications. When the mentally ill homeless leave jail ? and leave behind its mental health care staff ? many stop taking medication and end up on the street again. Treatment resumes only when they commit a crime and return to jail or their dementia overwhelms them and they are brought to an emergency psychiatric center...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on July 23, 2008 (boomark / email).