Improving access to mental health treatment in Flagler County has been an elusive goal for the past several years. It’s a bit less so at the Flagler County jail. The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office today announced it secured a $532,360 federal grant to support a collaborative approach to improve responses and outcomes for adults with mental illness, substance abuse and related disorders who enter the criminal justice system.
The U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, which provides grants, training and technical assistance to states and communities, awarded the Sheriff’s Office the highly competitive grant. The Justice Department awarded $18.6 million in grants
Flagler County trends and statistics reflect significant challenges for mental health efforts: addiction, a suicide rate far higher than the state average, and a dearth of local mental health services. The grant will allow effective training, timely screening for mental illness and substance abuse, evidence-based treatment and case management for individuals involved in the criminal justice system.
The Flagler County jail’s Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program, spearheaded locally by the Sheriff’s Office, will provide mental health and substance abuse treatment resources to county jail inmates by embedding a certified mental health and substance abuse clinician within the jail, and partnering with a local service provider to insure continuum of care after the inmate is released. The goal of the grant is to reduce criminal justice involvement by offenders and reduce suicides caused by mental illness and addiction.
A 2006 analysis by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics found that “more than half of all prison and jail inmates had a mental health problem,” including 64 percent of jail inmates, and with a higher proportion of mental health issues among women inmates than among men. “The rate of mental health problems
also varied by the age of inmates,” the analysis found. “Inmates age 24 or younger had the highest rate of mental health problems and those age 55 or older had the lowest rate.”
also varied by the age of inmates,” the analysis found. “Inmates age 24 or younger had the highest rate of mental health problems and those age 55 or older had the lowest rate.”
“It’s clear that Flagler County has an urgent need to prevent, reduce, and treat those with mental health and substance abuse problems. Left untreated, the end results can become suicide, arrests for criminal acts and jail time,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “A failed national policy shift decades ago has made county jails defacto mental health and addiction treatment wards, usually without any real treatment. Partnering with a research team from [the University of North Florida] and a treatment provider, this grant will enable us to design and implement a program in the jail for our inmate population that needs mental health or substance abuse treatment while in the jail and after their release. The key to success is aftercare so the treatment does not end when someone is released from the jail.”
The Sheriff’s Office applied for this grant in early 2020, before the call for police reforms, which often highlight and focus on police response to crisis and addiction intervention. This grant, a release from the Sheriff’s Office notes, allows the agency “to once again be on the cutting edge of professional community policing” while tapping into the stream of government grants that can benefit local residents. This particular grant provides another tool for the agency to help rehabilitate inmates directly by addressing some of the root causes of their incarceration, possibly enabling them to become productive when they’re released.
The Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program was authorized by Congress in 2004 through the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act and has since awarded more than $121 million in close to 600 grants ranging from $100,000 to $750,000. Flagler’s is the first such grant for a police agency in northeast Florida. Among the sort of initiatives it’s funded, according to the Justice Department:
- Police-mental health collaborations and training for law enforcement officials on safely resolving encounters with people experiencing a mental health crises;
- Diversion and alternative sentencing programs;
- Cross-training for criminal justice, mental health and substance use treatment personnel;
- Enhancing access to community-based healthcare services and coverage;
- Community supervision and reentry services; and
- Case management and other direct services.
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Steve says
Its a start for those that need the treatment. Possibly many who are incarcerated can turn it around peovided they get their minds right.
Pete Di Giulio says
Finally we got a Great Sheriff.After 44 yrs. In Flagler County putting up with mostly clowns in top position we now have Sheriff Staley who cares & can back up what he states.I just hope he can continue a long run in this county As The Top Dog for the citizens of Flagler County.
R. S. says
We have trained people to take care of these issues; they are called psychiatrists last time I checked. So, we’re turning cops into mediocre psychiatrists to take care of people who are throw-aways of the society? If psychiatry were indeed so cheaply attainable we should all be psychiatrists and clinical personnel for mental health institutions. I suppose that defunding the police and funding psychiatric treatment is too expensive for the garbage heap of society, huh?
Margo Cotman says
I am so thankful for the Flagler county sheriff department and this mental health program
My family is in desperate need of this help , thanking you in Advance
This help is needed and we are thankful after all of he calls , baker Acts and no lasting support
Thank You, thank you,thank You