Cook County Sheriff A Mental Health Template for American Jails. Home A Mental Health Template for American Jails A NOTE FROM SHERIFF THOMAS J. DART Dear Sheriff or Jail Director, As Ive traveled the country in recent years raising awareness of the root causes and potential solutions to the criminalization of mental illness, Ive had the good fortune of meeting many of my counterparts within sheriffs offices big and small. Powerbuilder 12 Datawindow To Pdf. We all come to these positions from a diverse array of backgrounds many are police officers some are lifelong corrections officials others like me are former prosecutors. Printable Paint Schedule Template' title='Printable Paint Schedule Template' />Cioffi Paint Schedule TemplateOne quality unites us all absolutely none of us signed up to run the largest mental health institutions in our respective communities. Yet that is where we find ourselves. As we know all too well, jails and prisons now serve as the largest mental health providers in 4. Through benign neglect and disastrous public policies, state and local governments have apparently decided over the past few decades that it is perfectly acceptable for our jails to serve as warehouses for the mentally ill. Most national media attention has focused on jails that house incredibly large mentally ill populations like Rikers, L. A. County Jail and Cook County Jail which I oversee, yet studies have shown that individuals with mental illness are responsible for the explosive incarceration rates occurring in smaller counties and jails. Every one of us is on the front lines of this crisis. And while we as sheriffs have firsthand experience of the shameful and fiscally irresponsible consequences of the criminalization of mental illness, weve traditionally had no say or discretion in the matter. We must take all of the defendants remanded to our custody by other stakeholders in the criminal justice system, even if everyone would be better served by diverting some of those defendants to treatment instead of jail. I came to my breaking point on this issue several years ago. Benjamin Moore Paint Schedule TemplateI grew tired of the runaround and empty promises from elected officials who continued to senselessly slash mental health budgets with no regard to the long term effects on our criminal justice systems. So I decided to do something about it, in my capacity as a sheriff and advocate. I began inviting outside the box ideas from my staff and experts throughout the country, tweaking and implementing as I saw fit. Quite frankly, we improvised as we went along. Some ideas didnt work as planned so we scrapped them, with no harm done. Responses to More problems for FordPaint Defects in 20002005 models 1 carol blauth says October 5th, 2007 at 603 pm. I have a 2003 Expedition Eddie. Everybody needs to maintain a schedule, right from children to adults, and using the blank schedule templates, you can easily maintain your schedule and in a much. But most of these concepts resulted in immediate and demonstrable success. Since 2. 01. 3, my overall jail population has dropped about 2. Im saving millions of dollars in reduced overtime and operational costs, including the shutdown of several large and now empty buildings of Cook County Jail. Ive created this template in an effort to share what we have learned, because I know that if we can achieve such measureable progress in the largest jail in the country with all the red tape and bureaucracy that comes with it similar success is attainable in all American jails. The ideas outlined in the template are scalable, from small lock ups to sprawling multi divisional compounds. Several of these proposals do require budget on the front end, but if my experience is any indication, they will save you significantly on the back end as recidivism rates among the mentally ill population begin to decline. Regardless of how many of these concepts are appropriate for implementation at your jail, my staff and I would be happy to help you and your corrections team with any questions or challenges you face. Please feel free to contact my staff at CCSO. Mental. Healthcookcountyil. Simply put, I understand the mental health calamity that has been dropped in your lap, and I want to help as best I can. Together, we can achieve significant reform and send a strong message to our legislative counterparts that we will no longer allow our institutions to devolve into repositories for the poorest, sickest and most vulnerable among us. Sincerely, Tom Dart, Sheriff of Cook County. INTRODUCTION The over incarceration of people with serious mental illness is nothing new. In the late 1. 70. John Howard in his book The State of Prisons noted of the many mentally ill people he observed in English prisons No care is taken of them, although it is probable that by medicines, and proper regimen, some of them might be restored to their senses, and to usefulness in life. Howards words ring as true now as they did 2. Yet, the criminalization of mental illness has taken a seemingly irreparable hold on American communities in the past 4. American jail populations have more than quadrupled to 6. The recent recession ushered in a fresh wave of cuts to mental health services at both the federal and state levels, flooding jails even more swiftly with unmedicated mentally ill inmates. There are now ten times more mentally ill people housed in American jails and prisons than in mental health hospitals. Sheriffs and jail directors have traditionally been powerless to stop or control these types of insidious trends. Police have discretion to arrest or divert to hospital prosecutors have discretion to charge or not charge judges have discretion on setting bond. But jail administrators could only stand idly by as their institutions morphed into mental health hospitals. And unlike prisons where they know exactly how long mentally ill inmates will remain in their custody the transient nature of jail populations makes it exponentially more challenging to execute thoughtful plans to reduce recidivism among the mentally ill. This document offers sheriff and jail directors a template to change that paradigm. It provides an overview of scalable reforms and strategies to better cope with the modern day realities of running a jail, while simultaneously advocating for a more efficient and just system. This template does not presume to instruct doctors how to diagnose illnesses or administer psychiatric medications. Rather, it provides a menu of innovative yet practical solutions which have been proven to work in Chicagos Cook County Jail that sheriffs offices can apply to reduce recidivism and operational costs. These concepts are introduced in the chronological order in which they would apply to an inmates time in custody at a county jail. Public Advocacy with videoAdvanced Mental Health Training with video Pre Bond Diversion with video Insurance Enrollment with video Know Your Population. Treatment Going Above Beyond. Discharge Planning Family Support Post Incarceration Engagement with videoLegislation with video PUBLIC ADVOCACY Overview. For most Americans, jails are out of site, out of mind. Most do not understand the difference between jails and prisons, nor are they aware that jail inmates have not been convicted of a crime. Members of the public unconscious to the basic tenants of running a jail are equally unlikely to know the extent to which jails have become de facto mental health asylums. It is incumbent on sheriffs and jail directors to expose the unfortunate reality to their constituents. Only jail administrators have the power to open the door and compel our society to come to terms with this crisis. This begins with humanizing the detainees in custody. Some mentally ill inmates are incarcerated for heinous, violent crimes which the criminal justice system will eventually address. However, most are in on run of the mill, non violent charges such as drug possession, retail theft and criminal trespassing. Allowing the local media in to meet these men and women will dissuade the public of the notion that jails are entirely full of dangerously violent criminals, instead educating them that jails have in effect been asked to serve as community mental health hospitals. The media attention will highlight the jail administrations work to make efficient use of taxpayer dollars by lowering the costs of incarceration.