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Spectrum of care for individuals with SMI in jail and community
3:13:26
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87 sec
Jeanette Merrill from Correctional Health Services (CHS) explains the spectrum of care provided for individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) both in jail and in the community.
- There is a range of needs and functionality among people with SMI, both in the community and in jail
- Care on Rikers ranges from outpatient-style services to more intensive PACE units
- Not everyone with SMI requires hospitalization
- Council Member Cabán agrees but emphasizes that jail is not an appropriate setting for individuals with SMI
- Cabán urges for quicker transfer of individuals with SMI off Rikers Island
Jeanette Merrill
3:13:26
So I think to start with the SMI population.
3:13:28
So I thought you made a good point earlier when you said that, you know, there's sort of a spectrum of need and function among people who have serious mental illness.
3:13:37
That's certainly true of people in the community and that's true of people in jail.
3:13:41
So we really provide a spectrum of care on Rikers that can be more like an outpatient basis where people can be housed in general population, receive their medication at the clinic, and also meet with counselors all the way to these PACE units which are more intensive.
3:13:58
But certainly not everyone who has serious mental illness needs to be hospitalized.
Sarita Daftary
3:14:03
Absolutely agree with that.
Jeanette Merrill
3:14:04
Yeah so I think that you know
Tiffany Cabán
3:14:05
But they don't need to be in jail either is my point.
3:14:10
And so like I understand very very well what the PACE unit is, what the requirements are, what the care that's provided there is.
3:14:18
And this is a hearing about the closure of Rikers and it just seems like anybody diagnosed with an SMI is in a really, really good position to actually be getting mental health care rather than punitive incarceration that has actually proven to be deleterious to mental health.
3:14:41
And so my specific question is like what are you doing to get people with SMI off the island quickly, way more quickly?
Jeanette Merrill
3:14:53
Sure.