Sheriff names psychologist to head Cook County Jail
Source: wgn tv
CHICAGO Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart has picked a clinical psychologist to serve as head of the Cook County Jail.
Dr. Nneka Jones Tapia will become executive director of the jail later this month.
Tapia joined the sheriffs office in 2013 and has been overseeing mental health strategy.
Dart says 25%-35% of the inmates suffer from mental illness and the percentage has grown in recent years as the number of mental health facilities has fallen.
Read more: http://wgntv.com/2015/05/19/sheriff-names-psychologist-to-head-cook-county-jail/
posting this to show what it means to have real dems in control. cook county government is truly progressive these days.
tom dart is a good man in a nasty job. he does everything he can to make the jail more humane.
down ticket races are where the rubber meets the road.
mucifer
(24,534 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)mopinko
(71,370 posts)and for justice for those who are in jail because they are poor.
he really works to find ways to respect the humanity of those in his charge. he never turns away people who have good ideas, and can help him make life better while people are there.
he has expanded educational opportunities, and career assistance and training.
he has ever brought gardening and chicken keeping to the jail.
folks here might remember that he refused to do foreclosure evictions when it became clear that banks were forging documents.
like i said, sucky job, but a good man. doing it the way most of us here think it should be done.
etherealtruth
(22,165 posts)i know your response was 'tongue in cheek" ... but the issue of mental illness in these populations is very serious and this was an extraordinary move.
ChairmanAgnostic
(28,017 posts)Many sheriffs I know are happily surprised, especially those who toil at 26th and Cal.
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)what he basically said was that while jail is not the place for the mentally ill, as long as they're there he'll do the best he can for them.
And our shame is that that's about the best this country can do.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)with granite counters are so much more important. Apparently.
Psephos
(8,032 posts)I don't see the linkage.
I have Formica, btw.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)Psephos
(8,032 posts)I can say that my work has a direct and lasting impact on the health and happiness of a lot of people.
I still don't understand where you get the idea we must trade countertops for taking care of those in need. Doesn't seem zero-sum to me.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)Psephos
(8,032 posts)phil89
(1,043 posts)priorities. Not hard to understand.
Psephos
(8,032 posts)...is how anyone could think we can't have multiple priorities.
You know, just as everyone already has in Real Life(tm).
47of74
(18,470 posts)And make these clones sheriff in a lot more places, such as one Maricopa County in Arizona.
mopinko
(71,370 posts)cook county is a great place to live.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)facilities across the country.
mopinko
(71,370 posts)we are still the windy city.
libdem4life
(13,877 posts)and begin to replace our Empire of the Globe with another WPA for Americans. That is what we need. Many mental patients did not start out that way. And most families can only support them to a certain point...if at all.
But only a Democratic Socialist can or would start that process, because it's expanding the "government reach" for social/worker/middle-low class benefit. (I want to say caste, because that's really what is happening...we just put it into nifty percentages.)
Sgt Preston
(133 posts)After watching the Frontline show on the role of professional psychologists in developing CIA sponsored torture techniques, I am not entirely sure that it's always a good idea to involve psychologists in controlling prisoners.
Watch it here:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/secrets-politics-and-torture/
mopinko
(71,370 posts)it about getting them out and keeping them out of jail.
the thing about the county jail is that you never know how long someone it going to be there. some sit for years as their legal cases drag on, and some come and go in a day.
but the county recognizes their "frequent flyers" and focuses on them as much as possible. but since they are often there a short time, it is really hard to help them. they might get a months worth of meds when they check out. but there is often no follow up once they are released.
this is really what dart is trying to do. get them integrated into other county services to help them straighten their lives out.
Sgt Preston
(133 posts)"Straightening out their lives" is controlling them
mopinko
(71,370 posts)keeping them out of jail is controlling their lives?
mmmmkay.
Sgt Preston
(133 posts)Conditioning prisoners to conform to society's norms is controlling their lives. So is shooting a laser into the amygdala of a prison "volunteer" to zap out violent tendencies, as the psychs have done for years at Vacaville. CA. It may be socially useful, but it is nevertheless a form of social control.
You are welcome to disagree, but you need to give a reason. Just calling something "absurd" doesn't refute it.
mopinko
(71,370 posts)it's giving people back control of their lives. and again, this is not about controlling them in jail. it is about getting them out and keeping them out. many mentally ill end up in jail because they dont have a support system, and they dont have proper medical care for anything, much less mental illness.
and it is the same folks, over and over. they call them frequent flyers. stopping that cycle is what this is about.
cook county has made great strides in getting more and better health care to the poor here. they started their own hmo through the aca, a year early through a waiver. for the first time in memory cook county hospital had more insured patients than uninsured.
just what is it you think mental illness is?
madokie
(51,076 posts)Good people are good people and this man is a good man
it lifts my spirits to read about him, thanks Mo'
ChairmanAgnostic
(28,017 posts)madokie
(51,076 posts)Man o man
ChairmanAgnostic
(28,017 posts)madokie
(51,076 posts)Assholes, some aren't. We know which one is which too
mopinko
(71,370 posts)the days when the pres of the cook county board woke up one morning and decided cook county hospital wasnt going to do abortions any more are loooooong gone and dead.
it is so good to be blue.
eta, patiently waiting for his kids to grow up so he can run for higher office.
madokie
(51,076 posts)Hell, even in the oval office.
For the most part we Dems have a lot of good people in our Party. Sure there's a bad apple here and there but they're far between in comparisons to the 'CONs.
mopinko
(71,370 posts)are in areas that are purple at best. i think you wind up riding a tiger in that situation.