Associated Press
Aurora Mental Health Center:  2 deaths in 6 weeks for Arapahoe County's Jail Diversion Program ADMIT -- What's the Problem(s)?

An inmate in an Arapahoe County program for the mentally ill was found dead over the weekend.
. . .
The man, whose name has not been released, was participating in the Arapahoe Diverts Mentally Ill to Treatment program, also known as ADMIT.

A second man found at the condo was taken to a local hospital, but sheriff's investigators did not say why.
. . .
 Sunday's death marks the second in the program in six weeks.


http://www.reporterherald.com/news/colorado/ci_2889209
2arapahoe-county-inmate-mental-health-program-dies

Orchid's Take

• First to really understand what went wrong in these 2 cases, we would have to have a lot more facts than we do, AND
• We do have a huge interest in seeing jail diversion programs succeed, AND 
• We have some of our own concerns:

1. Lack of transparency
2. Lack of peer involvement
3. An "intensive case management" which often isn't
4. Often that's because the community mental health center fails to communicate to the "intensive case management" agency.
5. And community mental health centers that seem "allergic" to Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) as a treatment modality and maybe that is because the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing won't fund enough of it.

                   In any case, that kind of intensive  treatment    
     modality is often  recommended in jail diversion  
     programs.
                   AND if someone doesn't need it, it probably would 
      do more harm than  good.

According to Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office:

ADMIT is a voluntary participation program conducted in cooperation with the Aurora Mental Health Center, providing such services as integrated dual diagnosis and treatment; medication management and access; trauma services; vocational and recreation services; and transitional housing services. The program serves men and women age 18 and older who have been sentenced to the Arapahoe County Detention Facility and who meet the following criteria:

•      Serious mental illness or dual diagnosis with a serious mental illness and a substance abuse disorder;

•      Non-violent current conviction;

•      Sufficient length of sentencing to allow for appropriate intervention; and 

•      Meet established standards for amenability to treatment.

The program allows those with mental health challenges to serve their sentence by participating in treatment and counseling, rather than being incarcerated.