Do the Mentally Ill in Texas Jails Get Proper Care?-3
Incarceration of the Mentally Ill Continued
Seriously mentally ill detainees will usually experience lengthier incarcerations because they will often require a psychological evaluation. It’s possible they need to demonstrate a restoration of competency to stand trial.
A survey in 2015 discovered that, of the 40 responding states, 78% were wait-listing pretrial detainees for hospital care. Waits for the mentally disabled were about one month in most states. However, in the worst-case scenarios, three states withheld forensic accommodations from mentally ill detainees for 6 to 12 months.
Some states report that inmates requiring competency restoration spend more time waiting for their day in court than the amount of time they would have spent if convicted of the offense with which they were charged.
Mentally Ill Inmates are at a Greater Risk of Suicide
Multiple studies have shown that as much as 50% of all detainee suicides are committed by the seriously mentally ill, though they make up only an estimated 17% of the inmate population. According to the findings of a report out of Washington state, 77% of all detainees who attempted suicide were mentally ill compared to 15% of those in the general population.
Look for more about jail suicide in this series. The issue is a serious one, especially considering that suicide is the leading cause of death in county and municipal jails.
See Part 1 and Part 2 of this ongoing series.
Helping detainees in Texas jails is one of this website’s purposes. There is no intention of insinuating that any person or entity has been involved in unlawful activity.
–Guest Contributor
smchugh
smchugh