URBANA, Ailing. (WCIA) — “The final word purpose is to get these with psychological sickness the assistance they want earlier than they even have contact with legislation enforcement within the first place,” Champaign County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman stated.
Whereas that’s their purpose, it’s nonetheless a piece in progress. Folks throughout the state and in Central Illinois wrestle with psychological well being. Now, the Illinois Supreme Courtroom is working to deal with that in and round jails.
The Supreme Courtroom fashioned a brand new psychological well being activity power that features stakeholders from throughout the state, together with Champaign County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman. They’re working to find out what the necessity is within the county.
Sheriff Heuerman says the final word purpose is to determine how individuals can get psychological well being sources earlier than they find yourself in jail. The sheriff stated a activity power had their first assembly the place they mentioned a plan.
By March of subsequent 12 months, they hope to have regionalized or localized psychological well being response groups. An instance of this might be if somebody dials 9-1-1, they’re diverted to a useful resource that higher meets their wants. All of that is to hopefully forestall such excessive numbers of individuals battling psychological well being whereas in jail.
“We wrestle with psychological well being amongst inmates within the correctional heart and the longer someone sits in custody, it appears the extra extreme that psychological sickness will get,” Sheriff Heuerman stated.
He says there’s a full time psychological well being employee on the Champaign County Jail. Additionally they work carefully with Rosecrance to deal with substance abuse points, then proceed to assist that particular person as soon as they go away jail.
The purpose proper now of their course of is to collect data to see what sources are wanted throughout the state and higher handle the psychological well being want in hopes to forestall individuals battling psychological well being whereas in custody.
