[Study referenced above from Canada]
Mental illness & Brain Injury -- Let's get people with these issues the HELL OUT of Jails & Prisons
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First, we so applaud the work of Dr. Kim Gorgens at DU in looking at the very large Brain Injury population in jails.
We have heard a number of these types of interviews with Colorado Public Radio's Ryan Warner and he invariably asks -- "Do you think we are asking too much of jail or law enforcement personnel -- asking them to be mental health professionals, etc.?" It's always interesting the answer he gets. Because there is usually a lot riding on it for the person answering the question. Our own bias is WE ARE ABSOLUTELY ASKING TOO MUCH OF LAW ENFORCEMENT & JAIL OFFICIALS -- these issues need to be dealt with in a medical setting not a correctional setting. Further, we actually agree at least in part with the conservative Treatment Advocacy Center when it comes to Mental Health Courts and other "Problem Solving Courts" -- they are the result of Service Delivery Failure -- Beef Up Your Service Delivery System NOT Your Court System. One of the people we invited to our meeting with CO Medicaid Director Gretchen Hammer on Oct. 4, 2016 is the parent of a young woman with both Brain Injury and Mental Health Issues that spent considerable time in Administrative Segregation in a rural Colorado Jail. |
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Nearly All Denver Jail Inmates in High Risk Unit Have Brain Trauma
Denver Post
March 9, 2015 http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_27673196/nearly-all-denver-jail-inmates-high-risk-unit |
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