County says 'Yes' to ensuring inmates' best mental health
Kilgore News HeraldOct 20, 2018
On Monday, the
"When we initially proposed this House Bill 13, we had identified, I think, over 100 inmates that were routinely coming in and out of
Harrington, addressing the court alongside
The health center will attempt to find housing for released inmates through a housing authority or with family placement. It will also provide substance abuse services and links to community resources so that released inmates "do not continue to commit these offenses and return to the jail and utilize our resources here in the jail when they could be better spent elsewhere," Harrington said.
County Judge
"We're identifying them initially in the jail, those who continue to recidivate," Harrington explained. "Once we've identified those, we are going to work with community partners, including
Pct. 3 Commissioner
"Those that we identify is about 15 to 20 percent, those that actually take meds and get check-ups," Cerliano said.
Harrington added the number of inmates who have ever utilized the mental healthcare system in
She stated the period of state grant funding would last for one year from the date of the agreement but the period had been extended until
Cerliano said the state would require regular progress reports to determine if additional funding would be provided to extend the program into the future.
"That would be our goal, to establish the program, it be effective, affect the number of inmates that return to the jail and then present that to the state in hopes of continued funding," the sheriff said.
"That would be interesting for this court to be kept abreast of it and see how it's working and if it does work, this could be really something special," Stoudt said.
Harrington said Community Healthcore would provide monthly reports as well as quarterly reports with extra information
"Our goal is to reach 150 unduplicated individuals for the year," she said.
Pct. 1 Commissioner
"We actually have a system. We work with the pharmacies and the DEA has a system to where if they're getting a controlled substance, there's actually a database that the doctors have to report that to that we're able to access," Harrington said, adding Community Healthcore works closely with other service providers to ensure patients are not obtaining extra drugs.
She also said she and her colleagues will track all data and paperwork for the program in association with
A final question from McKinney focused on who would be responsible for filling out satisfaction surveys for the program. Harrington replied case workers would work with the patients to complete the surveys.
The commissioners voted unanimously to approve the grant, which begins
According to an HHS press release, House Bill 13 was introduced into the
___
(c)2018 the Kilgore News Herald (Kilgore, Texas)
Visit the Kilgore News Herald (Kilgore, Texas) at www.kilgorenewsherald.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.