Harris County DA: 300-plus diverted to mental health programs this year after arrests for low-level offenses

Harris County DA Handles Jail Overcrowding by Focusing on Mental Health & Addiction Treatment

Officials are investing $3 million into mental health treatment for Harris County Jail inmates. The post Harris County DA Handles Jail Overcrowding by Focusing on Mental Health & Addiction Treatment appeared first on Texas Scorecard.

Harris County DA: 300-plus diverted to mental health programs this year after arrests for low-level offenses

The Harris County Jail population has dipped 9% since January as District Attorney Sean Teare says people are being diverted to mental health programs instead of immediately being booked into the county jail.

HOUSTON – May is Mental Health Awareness Month and Harris County leaders took the opportunity to highlight a crisis that cannot continue to be ignored: the massive presence of people with mental disorders in the local prison. On Wednesday, at a press conference, county attorney Sean Teare revealed an alarming statistic: 80% of prisoners in Harris County prison suffer some form of mental health disorder and one third of them are on medication. “T…

Revisiting Texas’ Mental Health Court Programs

In this special rebroadcast of the State Bar of Texas Podcast, host Rocky Dhir welcomes Judge Brent Carr to discuss his years of service in the Tarrant County Mental Health Court and the broader efforts across Texas to support people with mental illness in the justice system. They explore programs tackling issues from sex trafficking to drug offenses, veterans’ cases, and more. Judge Brent Carr (Ret.) became the presiding judge of Tarrant County…