Houston Chronicle: Harris County Commissioners discuss building ‘mental-health focused facility’ to tackle jail issues

On Thursday, Texas Jail Project spoke at Harris County Commissioners Court, opposing a new mental health jail.

About 80% of those inside the jail said they experience mental health issues and 30% are on psychotropic medication, county data shows. 

Last year, commissioners created the Harris County Jail and Community Safety Infrastructure Governance Advisory Committee to identify current and future jail facility needs and make recommendations for future projects, Jason Spencer, a spokesperson for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, wrote in an email to the Chronicle. 

The committee is expected to make formal recommendations to commissioners this year, including a plan to accommodate comprehensive mental health services, alleviate overcrowding and facilitate more efficient staffing, according to Spencer.  

Among those who spoke against a new jail at Thursday’s meeting was Sarah Knight, the mother of Jaleen Anderson, who died last year after being outsourced to the LaSalle Correctional Center in central Louisiana. 

Texas Jail Project co-founder Krish Gundu said that before building a costly facility to provide mental health services, Harris County should connect inmates with resources while they are in the jail and after they leave. Many people end up back in jail because their mental health issues are not addressed, contributing to the facility’s on-going overcrowding problem, she said.  

Gundu said many people awaiting trial inside of the jail are disconnected from the mental health resources they need. For example, anyone who was receiving services from the Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD before their arrest will be unenrolled in services after 30 days in jail. The average length of stay inside the Harris County Jail is 188 days, according to county data. 

“If you have a plan to provide meaningful continuum of care and provide the appropriate level of care to those in need, then yes (it’s a solution,)” she said. “But if it’s run by the sheriff’s office, then it’s a jail. You’ll have the same problems.”