Helping Inmates From The Other Side of The Bars
By: Rachel Havey
Updated: February 5, 2013
Fixing the inmate housing problem in the McLean County Jail is going to take help from the community. As we first told you, the National Institute of Corrections is helping the jail deal with the growing number of mentally ill inmates. Sheriff Mike Emery presented the justice committee with the NIC report Tuesday. Now, they're looking into possible programs to help, which could start immediately. Any infrastructure improvements, though would need approval from the county. No matter the fix, the sheriff says it's once inmates are released where treatment options are really lacking.
McLean County Sheriff Mike Emery says "Doing what we do in the jail is not helping the individual once they get released. It's the release side, the community side where we need to pull resources together, everybody work together and pool our resources to see how we can do a better job on the community side of the bars."
Right now, the mental health inmates are held in the jail's booking area. The NIC says they'll help with whatever improvements they can.
