Psychiatrists at the University of Texas are working with Travis County to improve mental health services in prisons and reduce incarceration for people with mental health problems.
In May, the Travis County Forensic Mental Health Project brought together community members to develop recommendations for reforming the area’s criminal justice system. About 40 percent of people in the Travis County Jail suffer from mental health problems, and many will benefit from outside treatment rather than in prison, said Danny, Director of Inmate Health at the Travis County Sheriff’s Office. Mr Smith said.
“The system needs to be redesigned. No single group or individual will fix it.”
The group has yet to finalize recommendations, Strakowski said, but they could include increasing the efficiency of mental health assessments as well as increasing housing options for people in need of treatment. High. The commission’s recommendations will be released within the next two months and will be sent to counties for funding, Strakowski said.
To prevent people from going through the prison system unnecessarily, Travis County crisis intervention team Addressing criminal behavior resulting from mental health crises.
Being arrested “starts a domino effect of issues that complicate and complicate everything,” Smith said.
Strakowski said some people with mental health problems will have to wait for evaluation in prisons or hospitals to see if they can be tried.
“We’re diverting people now, but they’re being diverted to the emergency room, and that’s not appropriate,” Smith said. We need community beds.”
In 2020, Dell Medical School partnered with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to Rebuilding Austin State Hospital improves the psychiatric patient experience by creating single room and partial hospitalization programs. But Strakowski said he relied too much on hospitals for treatment.
“(We) want hospitals to be designed as a recovery process, not just a place to house people,” Strakowski said.
The Travis County sheriff’s office has a psychiatrist, nurses and 20 counselors, but Smith said mental health issues are easier to deal with outside of prison.
Ariana Navarro, a UT psychology and sociology senior, advocates for mental health in criminal justice. She said the prison environment made it difficult to focus on recovery.
“You’ll come to recognize that you’re the one who did something wrong, and that negative self-talk and self-view will affect their treatment,” Navarro said.
Increasing funding for diversion programs — alternatives to prison that help people find housing, jobs and treatment — would help reduce recidivism rates, or the tendency of people to commit subsequent crimes, Navarro said. Stated.
These programs “reduce the burden on prisons,” Navarro said.
In addition to improving the system’s resources and efficiency, Navarro said increased education and affordable treatment would fix some problems.
“People involved in the criminal justice system are not receiving rehabilitation for things that may have led to their crimes,” Navarro said. “To really reduce crime, you have to deal with everything that’s flowing into it, not just[locking people up].”
this story It was originally published by The Daily Texan, an independent newspaper created by University of Texas students.
