Detainee in Liberty County Texas Dies After Suicide Attempt-Pt.5
Texas Commission on Jail Standards Addresses Suicide Prevention Continued
Rule §273.5-Mental Disabilities/Suicide Prevention Plan provides guidelines for dealing with potentially suicidal detainees and those with mental disabilities. Rule §273.5(a)(1) addresses training. Provisions for staff training (including frequency and duration) on the procedures for recognition, supervision, documentation, and handling of inmates who are mentally disabled and/or potentially suicidal. Supplemental training should be provided to those staff members responsible for intake screening.
All too often county and municipal jails in Texas are cited for noncompliance with this essential component of suicide prevention.
In December 2021, Cameron County Jail and Goliad County Jail were both cited for failing to comply with the requirement to provide suicide prevention training to jailers. The following is Inspector Earnestine Sanders’ note to Goliad County Jail:
- Documentation was reviewed and it revealed that jail staff had not received four (4) hours of Suicide Prevention Training twice annually as detailed in the approved Goliad County Mental Disabilities/ Suicide Prevention Operational Plan.
Warning Signs that a Detainee is Suicidal
During intake, jailers should be on the alert for suicide warning signs. Does the detainee make any of the following kinds of statements:
- Has no reason to live
- Mentions killing themselves
- Feeling trapped
- Experiencing unbearable pain
- Being a burden to other
Learn more in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and this continuing series.
Providing helpful resources to detainees in Texas jails is one of the purposes of this website. Accusing persons or institutions of wrongdoing it never intended on this site.
–Guest Contributor
smchugh
smchugh