New Orleans jail faces 'emergency' need for housing mental health inmates, director says
The AdvocateJan 04, 2019
Starting in October, the
In a court filing Thursday,
"The upcoming loss of Hunt as a suitable facility that would be available ... to house this inmate population presents a dilemma ... in terms of determining where and how these inmates should be housed until the construction" is finished, Hodge said in the court filing.
The surprise announcement follows months of behind-the-scenes jockeying over the future of parish inmates with mental health needs, according to the documents filed Thursday.
Louisiana Public Safety and Corrections Secretary
"As a result of the continual increase in the population of offenders remanded to the state with mental health needs and the state's projected housing capacity for this population, we are developing a long-term plan to utilize this space to house state offenders," LeBlanc said.
A department spokesman said there are no state facilities where the parish inmates could be housed.
Neither Hodge nor his nominal superior, Sheriff
Under the 2013 consent decree with the federal government and inmate advocates, the jail is required to provide appropriate services for inmates who suffer from mental health issues.
At the time of the agreement, Gusman's long-term plan was to build a new 89-bed mental health facility next to the main jail on
The short-term plan was to send the inmates to Elayn Hunt, where they could live in specialized cells and receive attention from mental health professionals, services that weren't available in
Year after year, the jail extended its agreement with the state as plans for the new mental health facility in
The city, which is responsible under state law for the construction of the facility, has not released a final cost estimate.
Hodge, a former corrections official in
Hodge said building the new facility could still take years. In his court filing, he asked for Africk's help in allowing for the renovation of the
It's not clear how much renovating and operating the
Mayor
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