Do the Mentally Ill in Texas Jails Get Proper Care?-5
Mentally Ill Inmates are at a Greater Risk for Suicide Continued
A spokesperson on the topic said many people are in jail when they belong in a mental institution.
A medical professional associated with a subsidiary that independently reviews jail medical care said the characteristics of a detainee at risk for taking their own life have been shifting, and it’s more difficult than ever to spot detainees who may be suicidal. There have also been things learned, such as what is the most effective way to discover whether a detainee may be a suicide risk. In former times, simply asking a detainee if they were suicidal was accepted wisdom. In each case she reviewed, however, the detainee had denied having suicide ideation.
Steps that were taken in California to reduce custodial suicides in county and municipal jails follow:
- Cells were made accessible that were specially designed to house and more closely supervise detainees, particularly at risk for suicide
- Correctional staff were trained to recognize that a detainee is despondent
- Detainees gained greater ease of access to medication and doctors, thanks to the snipping of a lot of bureaucratic red tape
The results of focusing on detainee suicide quickly became obvious. The number of suicides was dropping at a time when the number of jail detainees was climbing rapidly in California. In fact, at 70,000, the number of detainees more than doubled in the decade ending in 1990. The suicide rate in California jails shrunk in 1989. Sixty-eight custodial deaths occurred that year, but only 14 of the jail deaths were suicides.
See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and this continuing 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
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smchugh