tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post8158887437052362743..comments2024-03-25T20:06:39.794-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: Proposed mental health wing at Harris jail raises question of treatment prioritiesGritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-90592651123436824592010-07-10T08:07:24.515-05:002010-07-10T08:07:24.515-05:00Community supervision is, for the most part, inade...Community supervision is, for the most part, inadequate. The supervisors of those placed on supervision are for the most part collectors of fees and clerks (or data entry techs in the modern world).<br /><br />How many more employees would be required to allow time for the supervisor and the supervised to have minimal one on one time? At least four times the amount presently employed (I'm not even excluding those that are incompetent).<br />I know our elected officials will find funding for the additional employess. I cannot comment further as I am pressed for time this morning; have to go feed the Easter bunny, pick up the tooth fairy and have coffee with Elvis.<br /><br />Retired 2004Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-83203963057421824492010-07-08T10:47:00.098-05:002010-07-08T10:47:00.098-05:00Retired 2004, there's a (false) attitude among...Retired 2004, there's a (false) attitude among some who work in corrections and the public generally that incarceration is "punishment" and probation means "getting off." There needs to be a shift in both mentality and resources to better utilize community supervision as punishment.<br /><br />Even if the cost of probation doubled it would remain far less expensive per person than imprisonment. Bottom line, you'd just need a lot more people to do it right, and a few different kinds of people, to boot. See <a href="http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2010/07/reduce-utilization-by-frequent-flyers.html" rel="nofollow">this post</a> for an example of the kind of shift in resources that would be required to supervise the highest-risk folks adequately. OTOH, it's still cheaper than jailing them.<br /><br />There are costs to dealing with these populations, to be certain. But we also know the (much higher) costs of ignoring the problem and hoping it will go away.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-10883760745084887152010-07-08T09:27:12.829-05:002010-07-08T09:27:12.829-05:00Sounds great Scott! In practice I agree with R. Sh...Sounds great Scott! In practice I agree with R. Shackleford; probation officers cannot handle the present workload; how are they going to handle any increase?<br /><br />If a time study was ever completed accurately of how much time a probation officer spends with a probationer vs. his or her caseload one question would quickly arise: How is this caseload managed without "pencil-whipping" entries?<br /><br />Travel time used when visiting homes and job sites would expend the 24 hours in a day time clock; there would only be time to wave driving by those "one on one in depth" visits. It certainly is a great goal to discuss; it makes all the people sitting in meetings really feel good (like they have for years). <br /><br />Retired 2004Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-13794451185173315502010-07-08T06:25:18.075-05:002010-07-08T06:25:18.075-05:00@9:24 - I'm supposed to get back soon a fuller...@9:24 - I'm supposed to get back soon a fuller description from DA Lykos on what the "detox center" she's suggesting might look like, but I assume pretty much the same thing would happen when they leave that happens after they've been through the revolving door at the jail right now - the only difference is you don't waste as much money on them or tie up criminal court resources, plus you've got health workers instead of prosecutors and jailers addressing substance abuse problems.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-32608396710344209702010-07-07T21:24:09.594-05:002010-07-07T21:24:09.594-05:00A detox center may get them off drugs for a few da...A detox center may get them off drugs for a few days, then what?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-32900040843823558092010-07-07T18:38:48.980-05:002010-07-07T18:38:48.980-05:00The probation department uses the county jail to m...The probation department uses the county jail to manage their caseload. They violate the clients they can't manage from their office chair, or ones they don't like, the judge rubber stamps the violation with an arrest warrant, and all 20,000 peace officers in Harris County get to play Probation Officer by arresting the violator on a traffic stop.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-82311613893165873552010-07-06T20:39:33.885-05:002010-07-06T20:39:33.885-05:00Just look at the TYC issue/dilimma. Can this work ...Just look at the TYC issue/dilimma. Can this work for juveniles; without the abuse included; its instutionalized.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-87528426141135979142010-07-06T19:31:48.710-05:002010-07-06T19:31:48.710-05:00I think that plan has merit Grits, but I would be ...I think that plan has merit Grits, but I would be absolutely flabbergasted if such a common sense, workable solution was ever actually implemented. It seems more likely that Rage's plan would come to fruition, I actually see some real pressure for cite then bite to be put into practice.<br /><br /><br />Hey Grits, check out 'Hangman' by Cadillac Sky, got a real down and dirty old style bluegrass feel to it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-83393831200961663302010-07-06T18:25:21.489-05:002010-07-06T18:25:21.489-05:003:54, Bernstein agreed that was the case during ou...3:54, Bernstein agreed that was the case during our tour (though he noted the jail recently saw its first drop in population in many years). See also this <a href="http://justicecenter.csg.org/files/JailOvercrowdingConference2708.ppt" rel="nofollow">presentation from Tony Fabelo</a> (pdf) from 2008, and in particular slide 18 titled "Texas Jail Population Has Increased Faster Than Prison Population or State Population."Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-53089661479171692272010-07-06T17:04:12.949-05:002010-07-06T17:04:12.949-05:00Shackleford: If HPD and HCSO started using cite a...Shackleford: If HPD and HCSO started using cite and summons, as well as other proven diversion practices, they could shift resources from intake to supervision, and handle the load. It would also ease overcrowding, at the same time. <br /><br />RageAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-26981865275060386172010-07-06T17:02:09.239-05:002010-07-06T17:02:09.239-05:00Last I heard the County wanted the city to house t...Last I heard the County wanted the city to house their own and handle county over flow. For Bernstein to say, as he does in your update, that the city will send both prisoners and revenue is much like the usual sales pitch (see, e.g., McLennan County) on jail building and just might not come true. It just sounds like instead of other counties making the jail profitable, they are looking for a city within their own county to do it. <br /><br />Same song, second verse. <br /><br />RageAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-90739147523105123172010-07-06T15:54:03.949-05:002010-07-06T15:54:03.949-05:00Grits, is there any data available that shows how ...Grits, is there any data available that shows how the Harris Co. jail has grown relative to the overall increase in the county's population? Just curious.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-71844201036772419372010-07-06T14:15:34.359-05:002010-07-06T14:15:34.359-05:00You could define a category to target for extra su...You could define a category to target for extra supervision separate from those existing classifications - say, everybody who's been through booking three or more times in the last 12 months. Or if that number's too big, 4-5 times. Whatever turns out to be the workable point based on the data (which I haven't seen). Give special attention to those with MH diagnoses.<br /><br />Reducing those high-utilization jail users at the margins would have the highest bang for the buck impact on the jail population.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-82617805248065889222010-07-06T13:36:11.095-05:002010-07-06T13:36:11.095-05:00If the probation dept. took on more duties for ...If the probation dept. took on more duties for 'high risk clients', they'd be utterly swamped. The unofficial practice is to classify as many people as possible as 'high risk' for future prosecution and increased program fees, the probation minions could never handle the added work load. They can barely do a semi-adequate job now. The way things are going with law making and such, half the damned state will work in some form of corrections, supervising the other half.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com