The Summit County Jail will be changing the way it houses people with mental health and addiction issues this year.
The jail is creating a new unit for people struggling with mental health issues, as well as those on suicide watch or with other medical issues, to provide better treatment and the support they need to get back on their feet when they’re released.
"Jails have become mental health institutions more so than retention centers," Sheriff Kandy Fatheree said, "because all the people coming in have so many mental health and addiction issues."
Currently all people incarcerated at the jail with a mental health issue are housed in general population, unless on suicide watch, Fatheree said.
“They don’t get the care and the close watch that they really need," she said.
She got the idea to create a specialized unit after visiting the new Franklin County Corrections Center in Columbus, she said.
“The people coming into their jail are receiving closer care when they really need it," Fatheree said, "and when they’re leaving the jail, they’re actually in a better physically and mentally stable condition than when they entered.”
The new unit will also help the county's deputies focus on people incarcerated in the general population units, instead of often having to worry about health issues for those struggling with mental health or detoxing, she said
The specialized unit will open in two months once renovations are complete, she said.
The effort is the latest way Summit County has tried to address mental health and addiction issues in the community, including launching a specialized team to respond to mental health calls last year called the Summit County Outreach Team, or SCOUT. The team consists of paramedics, police officers and behavioral health specialists who all have Crisis Intervention Team training. The team responds to calls where mental health is a concern, but the person is not a danger to themselves or others.
“I believe that it is reducing the number of people that otherwise would have just been arrested and brought to the jail," Fatheree said, "because there’s no place else and nobody else to help them."
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.
