The AP (4/29, Balsamo) reported from Los Angeles, CA that “the Twin Towers Correctional Facility is home to about 4,000” inmates with mental illness, about 30% of the inmate population there. That increase in prisoners with mental illness “has led the sheriff’s department to adapt its policies as deputies and clinicians work to treat people dealing with both psychiatric disorders and substance abuse.”
In fact, “over the past year,” the Los Angeles County “sheriff’s department has rolled out new training programs that focus on de-escalating potentially violent situations and teach deputies to handle mentally ill inmates…said” Kelly Harrington, “the assistant sheriff in Los Angeles who oversees the county jail system.” What’s more, “county officials have launched a program to transition” inmates with mental illness and comorbid “substance abuse problems to continue their treatment in community programs so they don’t return to a life of crime to get quick cash to buy drugs.”
Related Links:
— “SPIKE IN MENTALLY ILL LA JAIL INMATES LEADS TO NEW POLICIES,” MICHAEL BALSAMO, Associated Press, April 29, 2017.