Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
The New Asylums - Coggle Diagram
The New Asylums
AVID Jail Project
Goes to several jails in King County, Washington twice a week
Speak in group or dormitory settings
Sometimes go cell front to cell front to speak to inmates who are in segregated housing
Identified issues within jails
Some inmates were not given the proper medication or any at all for their symptoms
Attorney Kim Mosolf
"Jails are not a psychiatric facility. It is a correctional facility."
Found that there were many factors that were not good, such as the environment settings for people with mental illness.
For those who are in segregation, they can be in lockdown for 23 hours, have limited action, and limited ability to reach people.
Issues identified
Overuse of segregation
Inmates are generally on lockdown for up to 23 hours
Have limited interaction with other people
Limited ability to reach people
Minimal planning for release for people with mental illness
Such as: making appointments with providers, connecting them to resources to services that they already had in place, working with friends and families to ensure they have a place to live, ensuring they are minimally covered by medical insurance, etc.
Virginia Owens received no phone calls regarding her daughter's release from jail
Some inmates were not given the proper medication or any at all for their symptoms
Ruben Rivera was not given his medication because they disagreed with the dosage
Ruben's symptoms became worse without proper medication
Jails
Last resort for people (with mental illness) seeking treatment
Filling in gaps for services that people cannot get elsewhere
Chicago's Cook County Jail
Nation's largest mental health care provider
King County Jail
Largest facility housing people with mental illness
People with mental illness who were incarcerated
Ruben Rivera
Formerly incarcerated in May 6, 2015
Had symptoms such as hallucination and nightmares
Was refused his medication from the jail simply because they did not agree with the dosage
Lydia Mazon
Formerly incarcerated in King County
Was put in segregation
Suffered from bipolar depression
Was put in segregation with zero privileges (no going to church, outside, or attend any meetings)
Daughter of Virginia Owens
Incarcerated from March 22 - May 22
Originally diagnosed with bipolar and manic
Came out of jail worse than when she went in
Solutions
Formally meeting with jail officials and administrations frequently
Meet every 4 months or so
Hear each other's concerns
Bring issues to light
Find a common ground
Jails are not an appropriate place for people with significant mental illness
Going to jails twice a week
Do intense investigations and get a better sense of the systemic issues
If people with mental illness had to be in jail, then protection and care has to be provided to them