By Pam Boyd EAGLE — Colorado has a well-documented lack of mental health support service — too few psychiatric beds, too few community programs, not enough funding.
The one thing the state does have in abundance is need. Combine the two factors together and the law of unintended consequences arises.
“Jails are the de facto mental hospitals, and it’s not just in Colorado. It’s across the country,” said Captain Gregory Van Wyk, jail administrator for the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office. “We see many people who really need to be in a medical facility.”
But with the enactment of Senate Bill 17-207 last year, Colorado has drawn a clear distinction between mental illness and criminal behavior. Committing a crime, as always, will land someone in jail. Having a mental illness episode won’t.
Mental health holds
Since the late 1980s, Eagle County Sheriff James Van Beek has argued against bringing people into the jail solely for mental health holds.
“The jail is not the right place for these people,” Van Beek said. “It’s not a law enforcement problem, it’s a community health problem.”
The new law in Colorado reflects that distinction.
“People can no longer be brought into the jail for non-criminal reasons,” Van Beek said.
So, for example, if someone is threatening suicide but has not been arrested on any criminal charges, he or she can no longer be taken to the jail. But Colorado incarceration institutions continue to deal with mental health issues.
Like the communities they serve, jail populations include people who suffer from depression or bipolar disorder or other mental health conditions. Being in jail can exacerbate those conditions, leading inmates to threaten or attempt self harm. By necessity, jails have to be prepared to respond to these situations.
It isn’t easy to do.
Drain on resources
Van Wyk stressed the goal in the jail is to find the safest, least restrictive environment for inmates.
“We call the classification of inmates an art, as opposed to a science,” Van Wyk said.
There are many factors to consider when the jail brings in a new inmate — sex, physical condition, language and severity of the offense, for example. Mental health needs are part of that puzzle. During the booking process, deputies try to sort through those needs as they make the decision about where to place a new inmate.
“We talk to people. Everything starts with an interview,” Van Wyk said.
“We ask ‘How are you really doing?’ And its OK to have that conversation with people,” Van Beek said. “The beauty of the situation is we have time.”
Van Wyk pointed to a booking interview from earlier this fall when a woman was charged with driving under the influence.
“She was terrified of us, yet we were trying to help her,” he recalled. Ultimately, the woman’s blood alcohol count came back at 0 and the booking deputies realized she was likely experiencing a mental health crisis. They were finally able to communicate with the woman and then contact her family, who then came to take custody of her.
“We saw her at the end of a …read more
Via:: Vail Daily