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Harris County: Lets go crazy-part 2
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Tuesday’s article introduced the problem we are facing in Harris County with Mental Illness: Part 1 of Let's go crazy in Harris County
Some “highlights”:
- JULY is “Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month”. (Non-minorities: it's O.K. to be nuts)
- I’m going to make you mad. I welcome the discourse.
- The numbers of mental illness cases are climbing due to street substance abuse, alcoholism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression. But, the number of those trained to treat mental illness is on a rapid…DECLINE:
- There are approximately 500,000 adult Harris County residents who experience a mental health condition each year;
- Approximately 140,000 of those suffer a severe mental illness, such as severe depression, bipolar disease and/or schizophrenia;
- Almost half of adult Harris County residents who suffer from a severe mental illness could not access treatment; and
- Approximately 20 percent of inmates in the Harris County Jails have a history of mental illness.
In a news conference shortly after it’s implementation, Advocacy, Inc. characterized the Harris County Sheriff's Office MHU as an example to the nation; and, Texas Commission on Jail Standards Director Adan Muñoz stated he recommends the HCSO system to all other jurisdictions in Texas as the example to follow for psychiatric care and control in the jail environment.”
Click on the icon below to learn more about the Mental Health Mental Retardation Association of Harris County:
TIME FOR SOME DRUGS: In the Harris County Jail approximately 2,400 inmates a day are now diagnosed with a psychiatric illness that medically justifies the provision of psychiatric medications.
What are psychotropic medications?
Categories of psychotropic medications include: Antipsychotics, Anti-depressants, Anti-obsessive agents, Anti-anxiety agents, mood stabilizers, Anti-Panic agents, and Stimulants. You may recognize a few of the brand names: Zoloft, Xanax, Ritalin, Dexedrine, Zoloft, Valium, Prozac, Thorazine, and Abilify.
Source: NAMI (National Alliance for Mentally Ill) Houston: http://www.nami.org/MSTemplate.cfm?MicrositeID=155
There is a growing awareness among our key county officials that the county simply can’t afford to continue housing this growing population in the jail. More cost-effective options for certain misdemeanor offenses by people with mental illness are under active consideration. This will require literally building out an array of services and supports that don’t currently exist in the form or quantity necessary to effectively impact this population.
The number of psychiatrically ill inmates in the jail on psychiatric medications is very close to the number of patients in all of the Department of State Health Services hospitals…across the entire state of Texas.
So, we’ve established that we don’t have enough doctors to ACCURATELY determine a patient’s level of mental illness in Harris County jails, the number of “claims” is escalating, the patients get:
- Detoxification
- Inpatient Substance Abuse Treatment
- Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment
- Inpatient Psychiatric Care
- Outpatient Psychiatric Care
- Counseling/Psychotherapy
- Medication
- Housing Assistance
- Employment Assistance
- Benefit Assistance
- and Free Swedish massage therapy from the lovely "Helga" on Tuesdays and Thursdays
- okay, I made that last one up...just wanted to make sure you were still paying attention.
Source: Project H.E.L.P. : Funding for this project is provided by Harris County Community Services Department (CCSD) through a State Community Development Block Grant(CDBG) received by the Harris County Sheriff’s Department. Intensive Case Management Services are contracted through MHMRA of Harris County.
What a terrific program!!! How do I get into it??
Source: Mental Health Unit News “Pioneering Jail - Mental Health Care in the 21st Century”:
By Captain J.O. Coons, Ph. D, and Lieutenant J. P. Legg, M.S, M.A.
By Captain J.O. Coons, Ph. D, and Lieutenant J. P. Legg, M.S, M.A.
“Statistics show most severely mentally ill people in jail have been charged with misdemeanor violations such as disorderly conduct, threats, trespassing and/or harassment. Other common charges brought against the mentally ill who end up in jail are, "lewd and lascivious behavior” (such as urinating on a street corner), defrauding a business (eating a meal, then not paying for it), disorderly conduct (such as being too loud), menacing panhandling, criminal damage to property, loitering and petty theft. It is little wonder then, why of the estimated 2 million inmates being held in prisons and jails across the country, experts believe nearly 500,000 are mentally ill.”
Let me recap this for you:
If I pee on a street corner, singing my favorite aria from La Boheme, after cheating my local Mission Burrito out of their $5.00, then I qualify for free detox, substance abuse treatment, psychiatric care, counseling, medication, housing assistance, employment assistance, and benefits assistance?
Dear readers…are YOU beginning to piece this one together? Our system is SO fantastic we’ve become a magnet for those claiming mental illness, which is UNJUST to those with legitimate problems who need our help!
Next article: Good news, some solutions to handle stress, and what you can do to help.
Until then, walk away from the television…it’s killing celebrities.
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Put a few extra hot dogs on your BBQ grill and call a neighbor. Sit in some shade and discuss our great American history! Have some ideas, concerns, or thoughts for an article regarding Harris County or Houston?
E-mail me at: James@thejameshamilton.com
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