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dixiegrrrrl

(60,075 posts)
11. From my years of experience in Mental Health
Sun Feb 19, 2012, 03:45 PM
Feb 2012

I know how this is going to end.
Badly.

The county/city jail Mental Health program consists of calling out a crisis worker to determine if the jailee is
"really crazy or jus faking it".
In the event the person is "really crazy" there are few options, other than hospitalization.
In the case of danger to self and others, there will be zero options, no more 72 hour holds.
the jails will end up being the "holding/observation" sites.
Hell, back in the 1990's, when we DID have the option of placing a 72 hour hold,
our Mental Health center bosses were strongly encouraging us to not use a hold,
because of the charge back to the center for every patient we sent to the state hospital.
Yep..the local Mental Health center got dinged money for every admission, even for 72 hours.
So people who needed to be confined, for their own safety, were often left to remain in the community,
until they acted out, someone called the cops, and in many instances, the cops opened fire on the poor patient.
I am not exaggerating this.
The local cops were truly terrified of people who were acting out. Saw that, a lot.

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