As someone who has personally been affected by a family member who was incompetent to stand trial (IST), the article “Santa Barbara Supervisors Approve $5.7M Proposal for Jail-Based Competency Treatment” gives me hope that incarcerated individuals with mental illness will receive the help that they deserve. What stood out to me was the term “recycling individuals,” which means that individuals who are IST are most often unhoused prior to going to jail, go to a psychiatric hospital, and then the cycle repeats itself.
This was also my sister’s experience. She was determined IST, sent to a psychiatric hospital, and was released from jail, only to return to jail a year later. Experiences like this reinforce the idea that incarcerated individuals need help a lot sooner.
I assess that the $5.7 million funding for jail-based treatments is a positive start toward restoration. It is an opportunity to provide incarcerated individuals with mental illness with appropriate support and services.