Plaguing Prisons Part 4: Pandemic adds new complications for jails struggling to help inmates with severe mental illness

Jails were not designed for a population of people that are primarily in need of mental health services, said LBJ’s Michele Deitch, but they become that by default due to a lack of services within the community. “That’s not what (jail employees) were trained to do or the jails were designed for,” Deitch said. “It is inconsistent with treatment and a therapeutic approach.”