Care, Not Cages: Why Mental Health Is a Community Responsibility
We talk a lot about crime in America. We talk about homelessness. We talk about public safety. But what we don't talk about enough is how many of these conversations are actually conversations about mental health. The truth is uncomfortable: some of the largest mental health "facilities" in the United States are not hospitals, treatment centers, or healing spaces. They are jails. Rikers Island Jail in New York City, Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles, and Cook County Jail in Chicago are now considered the three largest mental health care facilities in the country. Think about that for a moment. Every year, nearly two million people living with serious mental illness are incarcerated instead of receiving the care, treatment, housing, and support they need. Nearly two in five incarcerated people have a history of mental illness, and many are locked up for nonviolent offenses directly connected to untreated symptoms. People with mental illness deserve care, not...
