[nursinghumor]

November 28, 2004: Virginia: Local jails become holding facilities for mentally ill:"Several jails report that the number of mentally ill inmates is rising. In October, the Hampton Roads Regional Jail in Portsmouth held on average 197 local inmates taking medicine for mental conditions – 23 percent of the local population. That's more than any other local jail. "Should the jails be the secure treatment facilities for people with mental illness?" asked Roy W. Cherry, the jail superintendent. "Because that's where we seem to be moving."
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories...amp;ran=162545

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.nursefriendly.com

[Randy, RN]

Funding has been cut all over Texas for mental illness. Two facilities here have been shut down, 1 facility for battered women, 1 facility for HIV/AIDS drug treatment and the cuts are still coming. I fear soon we will see these folks crawling along our streets with no where to go. And at the same time, our funding for public schools is dropping, parents have to spend 3-4 hours per night educating their kids and it is just getting worse and worse. Wonder what it will take? And we spend sev. billion dollars per month in Iraq. I have to wonder. Good posts Andrew. Thanks.

[1mg.epi]

Funding is drastically cut here in Arkansas. The ER has become the holding center for many mentally ill patients. We have kept mentally ill patients in our ER for over 7 days waiting for a placement.

[1mg.epi]

Oh ya, we are also the drunk tank.