I'm sure the statistics are similar in every state. This is simply not sustainable.
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/06/oregon_inmates_mental_health_p.html
Oregon inmates' mental health problems outstrip a system never designed to handle them
June 19, 2011
"Year after year, the percentage of prisoners battling psychiatric demons has edged up. Now, seven in 10 of the state's 14,000 inmates need some type of mental health care in a system never designed to provide it.
Corrections Department officials have added 525 beds for mental health care since 2005 for a total of 900 -- more than in the Oregon State Hospital. They've created separate mental health infirmaries within prisons. They've even turned a "supermax" facility into a ward for the most severely ill.
It's not enough....."
More at link
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/06/oregon_inmates_mental_health_p.html
Oregon inmates' mental health problems outstrip a system never designed to handle them
June 19, 2011
"Year after year, the percentage of prisoners battling psychiatric demons has edged up. Now, seven in 10 of the state's 14,000 inmates need some type of mental health care in a system never designed to provide it.
Corrections Department officials have added 525 beds for mental health care since 2005 for a total of 900 -- more than in the Oregon State Hospital. They've created separate mental health infirmaries within prisons. They've even turned a "supermax" facility into a ward for the most severely ill.
It's not enough....."
More at link