Memphis, TN - Is 201 Poplar becoming a psychiatric hospital? That’s the question some are asking. Shelby County Sheriff Mark Lutrell says on average, everyday about 500 inmates staying at the jail have mental health problems. Lutrell says the Shelby County Jail has turned into the largest provider of mental health services in the county, if not the state.
Lutrell says “County government is the government of last resort. If no one is helping them, then we are the ones obligated to address it.” Lutrell says state cuts and reduction in services to the mentally ill have caused a spike in the number of inmates admitted to the jail. Lutrell says “These are mentally ill people who are on the streets who should be in mental health facilities and receive treatment.”
Bradley Cobb is the executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Cobb says cuts in TennCare and other state programs have caused more people with mental illness to go without their medicine. Cobb says “It’s getting more dire each day.”
A state spokesperson says while there were cuts, some of the money has been restored with federal stimulus dollars.
