Mental health program will continue at new regional jail

Wed., Jun. 3 2009 @ 2:42PM

City Councilwoman Cathy Jolly just announced that the new regional jail will get to keep the Bridge Program. The city secured $900,000 in funding for the project, which provide diagnosis, counseling, and case management to inmates who'll be moved from the Municipal Correctional Institution to the regional jail later this summer.

That's really good news because the Bridge Program employs a lot of mental health professionals. In March, Carolyn Szczepanski's feature story on MCI

detailed that while staff shortfalls and decrepit facilities forced the city's hand in closing the place, the move to a new regional jail could sacrifice mental health services. It's estimated that more than 85 percent of MCI inmates have no stable home, 90 percent come in with a drug or alcohol dependency, and at least half have some form of mental illness. Most don't or can't get into programs they need on the streets.

The Bridge Program is funded through the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City with Truman Behavioral Health and Swope providing mental health professionals for the work. Aside from all the humane benefits, diagnosing and treating illness go a long way towards curbing recidivism rates, so investing in a good program is probably saving money in the long run.