Local news from StateCollege.com and Centre County Partners. Read about How Some Police, Attorneys and Jails Are Trying to Help Pa.’s Ailing System for Mentally Ill People and more from the State College, PA region
Without a statewide solution, some local officials are finding ways to prevent people unfit to stand trial from getting trapped in the criminal justice system.
On today’s episode of The Confluence:A physical altercation between a striking Pittsburgh Post-Gazette worker and delivery driver for the paper sent one person to the hospital. We ask WESA’s Jillian Forstadt for the latest news on rising tensions between unionized workers still on strike and the paper. (0:00 - 6:55) A joint investigation found nearly 700 people in Pennsylvania have undergone competency proceedings to assess if they’re able to participate in their own defense. But Brittany Hailer from Pittsburgh Institute for Nonprofit Journalism and Danielle Ohl with Spotlight PA report a fractured system means those people, often with mental health issues, may spend more time behind bars than getting help, as the system intended. (7:06 - 17:11) Two Pittsburgh Public School students are headed to a national competition this summer to test their knowledge of African American history and culture. Both spent years preparing to qualify for it, thanks to a local event that’s both a
This story is a collaboration between Spotlight PA and the Pittsburgh Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, published as part of a Pittsburgh Media Partnership project. Sign up for Spotlight PA’s free newsletters here. Rachel Bridgeman thought she could hear God. Locked in the Allegheny County Jail, she slid from reality. The
Officials have had trouble staffing the facility. Some community members worry the staffing change could have a negative impact on health care for incarcerated people.