Deputies learning new skills to cope with offenders with mental health problems are among several changes underway at San Francisco’s county jail, according Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi.
The sheriff’s department asserts that more people with severe mental illness have been winding up in jail, according to the July 2014 City & County of San Francisco Sheriff’s Department Newsletter. Therefore, Mirkarimi said that the sheriff’s department is working with mental health professionals to learn how to intervene when an inmate is having a mental breakdown.
“Our deputies must learn new skills to manage tense situations and maintain safety for inmates and staff,” Mirkarimi said in the newsletter.
Other changes:
Before offenders are released, they’re enrolled in the Affordable Care Act.
The jail’s commissary prices are scheduled to be reduced.
Inmate telephone costs are lower.
“Research shows that inmates who preserve ties with their families, especially their spouses and children, have a much better chance of staying out of jail once released,” Mirkarimi said in a San Francisco Bay Guardian opinion piece. “Keeping in touch is almost an impossible reality considering the jolting cost of making a $1 per minute in-state, long-distance or pre-paid collect call.”
In the Guardian, Mirkarimi said the jail’s new telephone contract with GTL includes a 70 percent reduction for a 15-minute collect or pre-paid collect, in-state, long-distance call — from $13.35 to $4.05. There is also a 32 percent reduction for a 15-minute, debit, in-state, long-distance call — from $5.98 to $4.05.
“We are now entering into a new commissary contract with lower fees,” Mirkarimi said in the City & County of San Francisco Sheriff’s Department Newsletter. “Having a family member in jail creates many financial hardships, and every few dollars saved lessens that burden.”
The San Francisco Sheriff’s Department is implementing a new city law allowing its staff to enroll inmates into health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, Mirkarimi told The California Report.
Mirkarimi said that he believes making sure people have health coverage when they are released will help prevent them from committing another crime and coming back.
“With the Affordable Care Act, you can now qualify for Medi-Cal based on income,” said Tanya Mara, the director of the health division of jail re-entry services. Medi-Cal allows health insurance for low income Californians.
The Affordable Care Act has expanded Medicaid to include adults who have no children, which qualifies most prisoners for the government health coverage at no cost when they are released. In addition, the new coverage includes treatment for mental health and substance abuse disorders, problems affecting more than half the people in prison or jail, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Justice.
“You have a captive audience,” Mirkarimi told The California Report.
The California Report cites Mirkarimi as wanting to ensure that “the 30,000 prisoners who come through the jail system every year are covered on the day they’re released.” However, he recognizes even if someone has a Medi-Cal card, that doesn’t mean they will know how to use it.
“We, and our staff, help them get ready. But ultimately, it’s on them,” Mirkarimi said in the report.
