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SA jail shrink: Free-world services for mentally ill a must

The San Antonio Express-News ran a lengthy and informative profile this week of Dr. Sally Taylor, head of psychiatric services at the Bexar County Jail ("Doc puts inmates mental health first," July 5). In particular the reporter (whose name I could only guess at pronouncing) highlights Taylor's role in passing new legislation to allow jails to force mentally ill patients to take their psych meds. The article opens:It's become a given among mental health professionals that jails are now the largest psychiatric hospitals in the country. In Bexar County, as in others around the nation, roughly one out of four inmates suffers from some kind of mental illness. That translates into some 800 inmates at the county jail being treated for a psychiatric disorder ? hundreds more than patients being cared for at the San Antonio State Hospital...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on July 10, 2009 (boomark / email).