Psychiatric needs in local jails: emergency issues

There is an urgent need for psychiatric services for mentally ill inmates in local jails. The authors recommend that a psychiatric team be established inside the jail to provide short-term crisis evaluation, disposition, and treatment; that special training be provided for jail booking personnel in the recognition of psychiatric problems during the initial jail screening and classification process; that special modules be developed for mentally ill inmates; and that inmates in need of hospitalization have easy access to hospital beds. They describe a psychiatric ward actually located within a county jail to treat mentally ill inmates who are considered security risks.