Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene says the Mahoning County jail is the largest mental health facility in the county.
“When we have 500 inmates, we know that one third of those inmates are on some type of psychotropic meds,” he said.
“We started realizing: Where are these people going to go when they get released? Where is their next meal going to come from? Who is going to give them their meds? These are all things that weren’t thought about before.”
Interventions through community partnerships can stop the endless cycle, and find more appropriate places to treat and house them than jail, Greene said.
The advent of special dockets for those with mental illness is one of several recent developments that can help to increase the availability of mental health se