This story was told by a person incarcerated at Twin Towers Correctional Facility.
Caller: So, me and a friend of mine had the opportunity to work with mentally ill patients, and this was maybe 2017. It’s now 2022. We published a book. The book caught a lot of attention.
We created an edition here in the county jail. And really, it was because there was no bridge between the treatment for mentally ill patients and, I’d say, DMH, the Department of Mental Health, and the sheriff department.
It was really no in between. I think it was very hard for men to get treatment the way that they needed it. And it was very hard for the sheriff deputies to understand what they were dealing with because they’ve never dealt with this before.
So, we had the opportunity to live here with guys who are battling schizophrenia, bipolar, depression. I mean, we have guys who tried to commit suicide. Everything from anxiety to severe mental illness. A lot of them are heavily medicated. So, it was just like something new. I’ve never dealt with mental illness.
Believe it or not, general population, it’s [unintelligible] come across a man who’s dealing with severe mental illness, but I think mainly because we don’t understand, right? And that’s kinda what we’re taught. So, I think coming here was a complete difference.
Now, let me see, what was it 2020? 2019 was when the pandemic hit. They seen how well this program was operating and working with mentally ill patients that they didn’t shut it down. It was amazing. The county recognized it for such great work, right? And they seen that it was working.
