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Lawmakers plan challenge to jail as ‘default place’ for people awaiting psychiatric treatment

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Lawmakers plan challenge to jail as ‘default place’ for people awaiting psychiatric treatment

For years, have been jailed without criminal charges while they await mental health treatment.

This session, lawmakers will propose bills aiming to significantly curtail that practice, legislators said in interviews last week. And in the House, the measures will be sponsored by the chair and vice chair of the Public Health and Human Services Committee, to which at least some of the proposals may be referred.

“We can’t send people with mental illness to jail because the county doesn’t want to pay” for an alternative, said Rep. Kevin Felsher, R-, vice chair of that committee.

No legislation has been filed so far. But Felsher and Rep. Sam Creekmore, R-New Albany, the new public health chairman, said they plan to introduce a slate of bills that together would address multiple aspects of the civil commitment process and impose new limits on the jailing of people without criminal charges.

The Department of Mental Health supports those efforts, Director Wendy Bailey said in an email.

Last year, Mississippi Today and ProPublica reported that hundreds of Mississippians are jailed every year without criminal charges while they await mental health treatment through the civil commitment process. At least 14 Mississippians have died following incarceration during commitment proceedings since 2006, and no other state routinely jails people for days or weeks without charges during the commitment process.

Currently, the state’s commitment code says people detained before their commitment hearings “shall not be held in jail unless the court finds that there is no reasonable alternative.”

Felsher said one of his bills will impose stricter limits on the use of jail.

“You have to look for every other alternative before jail would become an option,” he said.

In some counties, Creekmore said, jail is “the default place to put them.”

Bailey told Mississippi Today that her agency had reviewed commitment statutes in states Minnesota, Tennessee, Alabama, South Dakota, and Virginia. Alabama, Tennessee and Virginia prohibit jailing people without criminal charges during the process. Statues in Minnesota and South Dakota strictly limit it.

“Limits that could be considered include requirements such as a chancellor must issue a specific order for someone to be held in jail, that the person cannot be held in jail unless actively violent, the local mental health authority would offer to services while someone is held in jail and limiting the amount of time the person is held in jail,” Bailey wrote.

Bailey has emphasized that she opposes jailing people without criminal charges while they await treatment.

Last year, Creekmore sponsored HB 1222, which became law and requires more mental health training for law enforcement and expanded a court liaison program that aims to families find treatment options other than civil commitment, if appropriate.

Jailed for lack of health insurance?

Felsher also plans to reintroduce legislation that failed last year, establishing that a person being committed can’t be held in jail just because they are indigent and lack health insurance to pay for treatment. That bill would have required counties to pay for a person’s treatment after their hearing if a publicly funded hospital or crisis stabilization unit bed is unavailable, capping costs at the reimbursement rate.

Harrison County, part of which Felsher represents, and some other counties in the state, such as Neshoba, already pay for private treatment if a public bed is unavailable.

The measures could trigger a fight with counties, many of which are reluctant to spend money to treat people instead of jailing them while they wait for a state-funded bed.

For example, Lee County Chancery Clerk Bill Benson said in an interview that it costs about $40 per day to jail someone in his county. When a county sends a to a private hospital, it pays more than $500 a day, according to contracts Mississippi Today reviewed.

At a hearing in November 2022, Felsher asked Benson whether he would support his county paying hospitals to treat county residents as an alternative to jail.

“My supervisors would hang me … if I said yes,” Benson said.

On Thursday, Benson said cost is still an issue. He thinks county leaders would want some assurance that they won’t have to pay for long hospitalizations of a week or more.

“And who is going to be responsible for finding that place to house them?” he said.

According to data from the Department of Mental Health, Lee County jailed 25 people before their admission to a state hospital in fiscal year 2023, detaining them for more than five days on average (a figure that doesn’t include the days they likely spent in jail before their hearings).

Felsher said he thinks county supervisors support keeping people out of jail without criminal charges but could be concerned about costs. He said he hopes to improve access to public treatment so that counties aren’t on the hook.

A pilot project and more

Creekmore said he plans to sponsor a measure requiring an evaluation before commitment paperwork can be filed—a change that would mean someone can’t be detained unless at least one mental health provider has recommended it. Currently, a person can be detained on the basis of a sworn affidavit by anyone alleging that the individual is dangerous to themselves or others because of a mental illness.

Creekmore said he also plans to propose a pilot that would eliminate jail detentions in participating counties by designating the local crisis stabilization units as the only place deputies can take someone they pick up after an affidavit has been filed. If the person was violent, a deputy would remain with them at the facility for some time period instead of taking them to jail, as sometimes happens now.

“If that can be successful, then maybe that can simplify it for all regions,” Creekmore said.

The proposed pilot would include Region 8 and Region 10, the community mental health centers serving a total of 14 counties around and east central Mississippi

“The involuntary commitment process is a heart wrenching experience and we, as a society, have a moral and ethical responsibility to put forth our best effort to help these hurting families identify and access the most humane and appropriate environment in our communities,” said Dave Van, the executive director of Region 8, in a text message to Mississippi Today.

A summary of mental health proposals lawmakers are discussing:

Proposals addressing civil commitment:

  • Stricter limits on jail detentions
  • Requiring counties to pay for private treatment if a public bed is unavailable after a judge has ordered someone to receive psychiatric treatment, and capping county costs at the Medicaid rate
  • Prohibiting jailing someone during the commitment process because they can’t pay for treatment
  • Requiring a pre-evaluation before someone can be detained
  • A pilot project to designate the crisis stabilization units in two regions as a “single point of entry” where deputies take people after picking them up and stay with them if necessary, aiming to eliminate jail detentions

Other mental health proposals

  • Expanding Medicaid coverage for people with serious mental illness to pay for supportive housing, aiming to bring new facilities to Mississippi
  • Establishing a mental health peer support program to address suicides among teenagers
  • Requiring the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline to be printed on all state IDs, including student IDs

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Mississippi Today

Mississippi Today’s NewsMatch Campaign is Here: Support Journalism that Strengthens Mississippi

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mississippitoday.org – Mary Margaret White – 2024-11-01 12:34:00

High-quality journalism like ours depends on reader support; without it, we simply couldn’t exist. That’s why we’re proud to join the NewsMatch movement, a national initiative aimed at raising $50 million for nonprofit newsrooms that serve communities like ours here in Mississippi, where access to reliable information has often been limited.

In a time when trusted journalists and sources are disappearing, we believe the stakes couldn’t be higher. Without on-the-ground, trustworthy reporting, civic engagement suffers, accountability falters and corruption often goes unaddressed. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Here at Mississippi Today we act as watchdogs, holding those in power accountable, and as storytellers, giving a platform to voices that have been ignored for too long. And we’re committed to keeping our stories free for everyone because information should be accessible when it’s needed most.

Why NewsMatch and Why Now?

This year’s NewsMatch campaign runs from November 1 through December 31, giving us a special opportunity to make each dollar you give go even further. Through matching funds provided by local foundations like the Maddox Foundation, and national funders like the MacArthur Foundation, the Rural Partner Fund and the Hewlett Foundation, your gift will be dollar for dollar up to $1,000. Plus, if 100 new donors join us, we’ll unlock an additional $2,000 in funding, bringing us even closer to our goal. Boiled down: your donation goes four times as far.

Every dollar raised strengthens our ability to serve you with fact-based journalism on issues that impact your everyday —whether it’s covering local election issues or reporting on decisions affecting schools, safety and economic growth in Mississippi. Your support makes it possible for us to stay rooted in the community, offering nuanced perspectives that Mississippians understand and engage with what’s around them.

Special Event: “Freedom of the Press: Southern Challenges, National Impact”

As part of the campaign, we’re excited to host a special virtual , “ of the Press: Southern Challenges, National Impact.” Join Deep South Today newsrooms Mississippi Today and Verite News, along with national experts on press freedom, for an in-depth discussion on the unique challenges facing journalists in the Deep South. This one-hour session will explore the critical role local newsrooms play in holding power accountable, highlighting recent restrictions on press freedom such as Louisiana’s “25- law,” which affects journalists’ ability to vital .

We’ll examine what’s at stake if local newsrooms lose press freedoms and will discuss how you, as members of the public, can help protect it. This event is open to Mississippi Today and Verite News members as a special thank-you for supporting local journalism and standing with us in this mission. Donate today to RSVP!

How You Can Help

Make Your Gift Today

Together, let’s ensure Mississippi has the robust, independent journalism it needs to thrive. Your support fuels our ability to expose the truth, elevate marginalized stories and build a more informed Mississippi.

Thank you for believing in the power of journalism to strengthen the communities we love—not only during election season but year-round. With your help, we’ll keep Mississippi informed, engaged and connected for generations to come.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Hinds County loses fight over control of jail

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mississippitoday.org – Mina Corpuz – 2024-11-01 12:57:00

The sheriff and Board of Supervisors have lost an appeal to prevent control of its jail by a court-appointed receiver and an injunction that orders the county to address unconstitutional conditions in the facility.   

Two members from a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with decisions by U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves to appoint a receiver to oversee day-to-day jail operations and keep parts of a previous consent decree in place to fix constitutional violations, a failure to protect detainees from harm. 

However, the appeals court called the new injunction “overly broad” in one area and is asking Reeves to reevaluate the scope of the receivership.

The injunction retained provisions relating to sexual assault, but the appeals court found the provisions were tied to general risk of violence at the jail, rather than specific concerns about the Prison Rape Elimination Act. The court reversed those points of the injunction and remanded them to the district court so the provisions can be

The court also found that the receiver should not have authority over budgeting and staff salaries for the Raymond Detention Center, which could be seen as “federal intrusion into RDC’s budget” – especially if the receivership has no end date. 

Hinds County Board of Supervisors President Robert Graham was not immediately available for comment Friday. Sheriff Tyree Jones declined to comment because he has not yet read the entire court opinion. 

In 2016, the Department of Justice sued Hinds County alleging a pattern or practice of unconstitutional conditions in four of its detention facilities. The county and DOJ entered a consent decree with stipulated changes to make for the jail system, which people facing trial. 

“But the decree did not resolve the dispute; to the contrary, a yearslong battle ensued in the district court as to whether and to what extent the County was complying with the consent decree,” the appeals court wrote.  

This prompted Reeves to hold the county in contempt of court twice in 2022. 

The county argued it was doing its best to comply with the consent decree and spending millions to fix the jail. One of the they offered was building a new jail, which is now under construction in

The county had a to further prove itself during three weeks of hearings held in February 2022. Focuses included the of seven detainees in 2021 from assaults and suicide and issues with staffing, contraband, old and use of force. 

Seeing partial compliance by the county, in April 2022 Reeves dismissed the consent decree and issued a new, shorter injunction focused on the jail and removed some provisions from the decree.

But Reeves didn’t see improvement from there. In July 2022, he ordered receivership and wrote that it was needed because of an ongoing risk of unconstitutional harm to jail detainees and staff. 

The county pushed back against federal oversight and filed an appeal, arguing that there isn’t sufficient evidence to show that there are current and ongoing constitutional violations at the jail and that the county has acted with deliberate indifference. 

Days before the appointed receiver was set to take control of the jail at the beginning of 2023, the 5th Circuit Court ordered a stay to halt that receiver’s work. The new injunction ordered by Reeves was also stayed, and a three-person jail monitoring team that had been in place for years also was ordered to stop work. 

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

2 out of 5 child care teachers make so little they need public assistance tosupport their families

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mississippitoday.org – Jackie Mader, The Hechinger – 2024-11-01 08:49:00

This story about child care wages was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit,
independent organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger’s early childhood newsletter.

Caring for during their first few years is a complex and critical job: A child’s
brain develops more in the first five years than at any other point in . Yet in America,
individuals engaged in this crucial role are paid less than animal caretakers and
dressing room attendants.

That’s a major finding of one of two new reports on the dismal treatment of child care
workers. Together, the reports offer a distressing picture of how child care staff are
faring economically, the troubling changes low wages have caused to the
workforce.

Early childhood workers nationally earn a median wage of $13.07 per hour, resulting in
poverty-level earnings for 13 percent of such educators, according to the first report, the
Early Childhood Workforce Index 2024. Released earlier this month by the Center for
the Study of Child Care Employment at the University of California, Berkeley, the annual
report also found:

? 43 percent of families of early educators rely on public assistance like
food stamps and .

? Pay inequity exists within these low wages: Black early childhood
educators earn about $8,000 less per year than their white peers. The
same pay gap exists between early educators who work with infants and
toddlers and those who work with preschoolers, who have more
opportunities to work in school districts that pay higher wages.

? Wages for early educators are rising more slowly than wages in other
industries, including fast food and retail.

In part due to these conditions, the industry is losing some of its highest-educated
workers, according to a second new report, by Chris M. Herbst, a professor at Arizona
University’s School of Public Affairs. That study compares the pay of child care
workers with that of workers in other lower-income professions, including cooks and
retail workers; it finds child care workers are the tenth lowest-paid occupation out of
around 750 in the economy. The report also looks at the ‘relative quality’ of child care
staff, as defined by math and literacy scores and education level. Higher-educated
workers, Herbst suggests, are being siphoned off by higher-paying .

That’s led to a “bit of a spiral” in terms of how child care work is perceived, and
contributes to the persistent low wages, he said in an interview. Some additional
findings from Herbst’s study:

? Higher-educated women increasingly find employment in the child care
industry to be less attractive. The share of workers in the child care
industry with a bachelor’s degree barely budged over the past few
decades, increasing by only 0.3 percent. In contrast, the share of those in
the industry who have 12 years of schooling but no high school degree,
quadrupled.

? Median numeracy and literacy scores for female child care workers
(who are the majority of the industry staff) fall at the 35 th and 36 th
percentiles respectively, compared to all female workers. Improving these
scores is important, Herbst says, considering the importance of education
in the early years, when children experience rapid brain .

This doesn’t mean child care staff with lower education levels can’t be good early
educators. Patience, communication skills and a commitment to working with young
children also matter greatly, Herbst writes. However, higher education levels may mean
staff have a stronger background not only in English and math but also in topics like
behavior modification and special education, which are sometimes left out of
certification programs for child care teachers.

You can read Herbst’s full report here, and the 2024 workforce index here.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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