Jail Diversion a Hot Topic at Homeless Coalition Meeting

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 20 to 25 percent of the homeless population in the United States suffers from some form of severe mental illness. An unknown number of those homeless can be found in jails and prisons nationwide. Instead of treatment, those living with severe mental illness are often subject to arrest.

Members of the San Angelo Homeless Coalition and various agencies convened in a full room at St. Paul Presbyterian on Wednesday morning for a monthly meeting that this time focused on jail diversion, or getting help for homeless suspects instead of sending them directly to a jail cell.

Jail diversion is a term describing when a suspect in custody is found to be mentally unstable and is transported by authorities to a mental health facility, like River Crest Hospital, or is released on a 'personal reconnaissance bond' to receive treatment they will not recieve in the county jail.

Tom Green is one of the few counties in Texas that has a mental health unit that operates alongside the sheriff's department, and the number of calls received by that unit has risen sharply over the past year.

"The call volume [for mental health]  has increased 90 percent since 2013," said Mental Health Deputy Sgt. Quinten Williams. "In 2013, we were averaging 130 calls per month. At the end of last year we averaged 198 calls per month."

"It’s an ever increasing number that we’re seeing," said Greg Rowe, Executive Director for MHMR. "There are six [Tom Green County Sheriff's] deputies that are trained in mental health, crisis, and identifying individual needs during a crisis situation. They have the ability to divert them from jail and take them to a local hospital, or MHMR, or also a state facility if needed."

Sgt. Williams outlined the alarming fact that there has also been an increase in number of calls related to children. Sometimes the inability to pay for certain medications is the problem, not only with minors, but adults too.

"We had a case just the other day where the parents could not afford the medication at $300 per month for their child. If the child had the medication, we probably would not have been called out," said Sgt. Williams.  

MHMR provides help in finding financial assistance for those in need of mental health medications whom can not fuction in a normal capacity without it. The Mental Health Divison at the Tom Green County Sheriff's office and MHMR have coordinated to try and curb the number of mentally ill inmates in the TGC jail.

Rowe explained that MHMR only handles patients with one of the "big three", which include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression. Patients that are referred to MHMR are assessed and see psychiatrists, and are then put on an individualized treatment plan. The services are available to anyone who is either indigent or on Medicaid, Rowe said.

He also cited the lack of psychiatrists in the San Angelo area and added that MHMR will soon provide "tele-medicine". Patients will be able to communicate with psychiatrists in other communities, like Dallas, via video chat.

The Crisis Intervention Unit was formed in 1999 and is a first responder group when called in by law enforcement. CIU is comprised of volunteers respond to the needs of the victim and intercede on their behalf. The CIU does not handle dangerous calls; those are handled by the mental health deputies, who can issue an emergency detention, meaning the suspect can be detained against their will and after they are in a safer environment, like a hospital. Then Greg Hickey’s crisis team comes in and does the evaluation.

"Our crisis outreach team works hand in hand with the jail," said Greg Hickey of the Crisis Intervention Unit in Tom Green County.  "If [an inmate] has problems at the jail, like suicidal thoughts or any other type of psychosis, before they are released from the jail or upon arrival we are called out to do an evaluation."

Eric Sanchez, CEO of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council of the Concho Valley (ADACCV, usually pronounced "A-Dack"), noted how the council works to get people into treatment and keep them out of county correctional facilities.

“The difficult part is to get them into treatment,” Sanchez said. “The addiction is so strong and they may have mental health issues that go along with it, so there's a fear of coming into treatment [sometimes] they may feel reluctant or hestitant and will sabotage their own placement dates. That's the hard part, getting them to come to treatment. Once we get them, the next step is keeping them there."

Sanchez said that once individuals are admitted, the staff at ADACCV are generally able to keep them there and have a 70 percent success rate. Inmates are sometimes referred to an inpatient treatment/rehabilation program that they must complete as a term of release or probation, like Sara's House.

Sara's House is an inpatient treatment facility that offers a place for females with drug or alcohol addictions. During the structured 30-90 day program, women are seen by professional mental health professionals, follow a strict daytime schedule, and are given the opportunity to reunite with their children that may have been estranged from the mother due to incarceration.

ADACCV provides rehabilation services and after-care programs for patients in recovery, but is lacking a detox center. Detox centers are impairative for those with addictions that make the choice to seek treatment, as "coming down" off of drugs or alcohol can be life-threatening and can even cause serious medical/mental health conditions. San Angelo has beeen without a detox center since 1997.

"We’re in the middle of a capital campaign to raise $5 million for construction, and an additional $1 million for an endowment fund to build an in-patient detox center," Sanchez said. 

For more information or help from the agencies mentioned above, you may reach them by phone at:

MHMR (325) 658-7750
ADACCV 1-800-880-9641
CIU (325) 658-3921