Story by Rocio De La Fe, kfdm.com
Beaumont — The Jefferson county sheriff’s office working to address the mental health crisis plaguing southeast Texas.
Kaylee Allen is the mental health coordinator at the Jefferson county jail. It’s a unique position and a fairly new one. The mental health program at the facility began in 2018. It was created to deal with the influx of mental health issues among the inmate population.
“We have everything from counselors, social workers, we have a discharge planner that helps with getting into rehab and other services,” said Allen.
Allen says not only did the pandemic contribute to a number of mental health problems like anxiety and depression, drug overdoses and suicide attempts, but it also made it harder to find mental health resources, saying “the mental health crisis really hit in the jail. Because, I mean, you’re already on lockdown because you’re in jail but at the same time having COVID and the world is locked down, there was a lot that we had to kind of work with and fight on.”
Zena Stephens, Jefferson CountySheriff, says the county has spent almost 200% more on medication to treat mental health in the last year alone. She says the biggest challenge for law enforcement is to find long-term solutions for people who need help.
“It’s a very difficult and challenging endeavor. Finding a place for people, other than jail, who suffer with mental health issues, is not unique to Jefferson county, is not unique to our state. And so as a society, I think that we, we have to do a better job at that.”
Sherriff Stephens is pushing for legislation that will provide funding, create diversion programs and agencies to address mental health.
The Jefferson county jail has three full-time mental health deputies to help inmates transition back into the community.
