ANDERSON – The sheriff is making changes at the Madison County Jail to help inmates who struggle with drug addiction, mental illness or both.
Madison County Sheriff Scott Mellinger said the jail is overcrowded with people who need help and don’t need incarceration.
“The jail is full of persons with addictions, many of whom aren’t a danger to anyone, while we are letting some serious offenders walk the streets,” he said. “The Madison County Jail has become the largest mental health facility in the county.”
From in-jail therapy to developing a Community Outreach Task Force to keep those with mental illness out of jail to begin with, Mellinger said it is time for these changes. He said if people care about having a safer community and more productive citizens, drug addiction needs to be fought head-on.
“It’s so easy to say it’s the user’s fault, because to a great extent it is, but that helps absolutely nobody, and it allows the problem to grow as it has grown the last 15 years,” he said. “Whether it’s tax dollars for therapy or tax dollars for needle exchange or tax dollars for Narcan (a drug that revives people from an opiate overdose), we’re saving lives.”
The jail was more than 40 people over its capacity of 207 as of a couple of weeks ago. While some inmates, about 13, have been moved to jails in other counties, Mellinger said he believes the solution is only temporary.
In-jail therapy
In-jail therapy has grown since it started in early August. The program has $30,000 of grant money to see the program through its first year.
For awhile, the jail had one therapist from Jane Pauley Community Health Center who talked with four to five inmates each week. Now, three students with at least three years of their doctoral program completed have started talking with four to six inmates a week, each having therapy sessions of 30 to 45 minutes each.
Therapy helps the inmates cope with their current situation and, especially those with addictions, develop an exit plan. Mellinger said after sitting in on drug court group sessions, he learned inmates with addictions are scared to leave without a plan to stay clean.
Providing resources
Mellinger said his next plan of action is to develop a way to distribute information and resources to inmates, but he wants it to be more than just a card with a list of organizations. He doesn't want former inmates to be passed around or told to return in two weeks.
The Madison County Mental Health Coalition has been working toward either a 211 registry or something similar with up-to-date resources that will actually help people without being too confusing.
The coalition has worked for the past 18 months on creating relationships between behavioral health organizations and creating plans for how to assist mentally ill people in the community.
Mike Casuscelli, one of the facilitators for the coalition, said Mellinger has been innovative with his ideas of how to help this part of the community. Dennis Lanane, another one of the facilitators, said he has appreciated Mellinger’s help with the coalition.
“He’s doing everything that’s possible to get the population done at the jail and to get the mental health agencies to work with him,” Lanane said.
Developing COT Force
Mellinger has talked with the coalition about their help in developing a COT force, which would be comprised of officers and mental health professionals who would help when law enforcement comes into contact with someone who is struggling with addiction or mental illness.
He would like organizations to each dedicate one person to be available and on call essentially 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the COT force. The officers and mental health professionals need to be willing to bend the rules when it comes to helping someone find shelter and seek treatment and help.
“As far as from the officer’s perspective, if someone is in possession of a narcotic illegally, and that’s the only crime they’ve committed, and if that person appears to pose no danger to anyone else or themselves, let’s get them to a shelter,” he said. “Let’s cite them into court for their violation. But in between the shelter and court, let’s let COT Force try to help that person out.”
The COT Force isn’t nearly complete, but Mellinger said he will hold a development meeting next week.
The current shelters are doing a good job, Mellinger said, but the county needs more discretionary space to help some of the people the COT Force comes across — people who need shelter that same night, even if it is only for a night or two. Women without children are at a disadvantage with local shelters as well, he said.
The COT Force would help the overcrowding issue at the jail, Mellinger said. He said he would like to be able to separate people who have addictions and mental illness to give them the attention they need, but the current infrastructure of the jail won’t allow for that to happen, especially with the overcrowding.
Addicts will go far lengths to get drugs when in jail, and it can be dangerous and cause liability on the jail. The segregation would allow jail staff to better guard those individuals.
Mellinger said his top intention is to keep liability off the jail. His second priority is simple.
“No. 2 would be to help people who, at the current time, can’t help themselves,” he said.