LOCKED UP KIDS IN CA ARE FAR MORE LIKELY TO BE HOSPITALIZED FOR MENTAL HEALTH REASONS THAN NON-INCARCERATED KIDS
Kids in CA juvenile detention facilities were hospitalized for mental health issues way more often (and for longer) than their non-justice-system-involved peers over a period of 15 years, according to a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine.
Stanford researchers analyzed data from nearly two million hospitalizations of kids and teens between 11-18 in California from 1997 to 2011. The findings surprised the study’s lead author, Dr. Arash Anoshiravani. A whopping 63% of juvenile detention hospitalizations were for mental health problems, compared with 19% for kids who were not locked-up.
“We know young people in the juvenile justice system have a disproportionate burden of mental illness,” said Anoshiravani, “But I was really surprised by the magnitude of the problem, because hospitalizations typically occur for very severe illness.”
Locked up patients were more likely to be older, boys, and black. And when you took boys out of the picture, detained girls’ hospitalizations were for mental illness 74% of the time.
LA COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPT. LAUNCHES MENTAL EVALUATION UNITS IN SANTA CLARITA AND ANTELOPE VALLEY
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has launched three new, much-needed Mental Evaluation Units for Santa Clarita, Palmdale and Lancaster. The teams are comprised of sheriff’s deputies and a Dept. of Mental Health clinician. The LASD has such teams already in place in other parts of the county, and in the jails, but, until now, hasn’t been able to fund units for Santa Clarita and the Antelope Valley, which account for more than a third of mental health-related calls to the LASD.
LA Daily News’ Susan Abram has the story. Here’s a clip:
“We had been pushing for this for years, but we couldn’t get the funding,” said Lt. Carlos Marquez, who oversees the evaluation teams for the Sheriff’s Department. “When we got these three additional teams, the logical placement was in Santa Clarita, Palmdale and Lancaster,”
Of the 1,000 calls for service that have to do with mental health, a third come from the northern part of L.A. County, Marquez said.
Those people who require emergency psychiatric care will be taken to Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar, one of three facilities countywide with emergency psychiatric beds, said Dr. Mark Ghaly, director of community health and integrated programs at the county Department of Health Services.
There are about 130 emergency psychiatric beds throughout the county — not nearly enough, Ghaly said, noting there may be some relief later this year.
In 2011, county officials opened a $10 million mental health urgent-care center in Sylmar, next to Olive View, for walk-in patients suffering from anxiety, depression, schizophrenia and a range of other issues.
SOCAL PRIVATE PRISON BECOMES LARGEST ADULT IMMIGRANT DETENTION FACILITY IN THE NATION
Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), along with 28 other legislators, sent a letter last week, urging the US Justice Dept. and the Dept. of Homeland Security to stop expanding the Adelanto Detention Center, a privately run prison for immigrants in San Bernardino County.
Last month, Adelanto, which is run by the scandal-plagued GEO Group, became the largest detention facility in the country for adult immigrants. Before the expansion, Adelanto was a men’s only facility, but has added 260 beds for women, in addition to 380 more beds for men.
GEO Group, the second largest for-profit prison operator, is often accused of medical neglect and abuse. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is beholden to a “lock-up quota”—a profit-boosting tactics penalize states for not filling prison beds—of 488 prisoners through May of 2016.
In an op-ed for The Hill, Christina Fialho, who is an attorney and co-founder of Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC), urges the feds to stop ignoring the medical neglect by GEO Group, and to stop the expansion, and instead defund the detention center altogether. Here’s a clip:
The Congressional letter highlights Gerardo Corrales, a nineteen-year-old who is paralyzed from the waist down. Corrales suffered a urinary tract infection because GEO Group was unwilling to provide him with a sufficient number of catheters. Doctors at a nearby hospital not affiliated with GEO told Corrales that his infection could have been fatal. Earlier this month, Corrales launched his own campaign along with three other men detained at Adelanto calling for the release of all people from the facility. Chu’s letter includes a link to Corrales’ oral testimony.
My organization, Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC), has been documenting medical neglect and other abuses at Adelanto since 2012 through the support of CIVIC volunteers who visit the facility weekly. Although U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tells us that people detained at Adelanto who request a medical visit are seen within 24 hours, the people in detention tell us otherwise. In fact, it is our understanding that sometimes it takes weeks for the men to see medical personnel, and they rarely meet with a doctor. The nurses often prescribe ibuprofen or “drink more water” for symptoms ranging from cataracts, to a slipped disk, to infections. One man was denied treatment for a serious hip infection because “it was too expensive,” according to a letter released in May by advocates. Unbelievably, nurses even deny sweaters to people detained at Adelanto who are cold.
Despite numerous complaints CIVIC has filed with DHS’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and the Office of the Inspector General about the facility, ICE decided to expand the Adelanto Detention Center to detain 640 more people, including up to 260 women. Currently, the Adelanto Detention Center is imprisoning eight women, and local ICE personnel are hopeful that the expansion will allow them to detain transgender women at the facility as well. This is very troubling because these vulnerable populations require specialized healthcare services, and GEO Group has already proven that it is incapable of providing adequate care to the men in detention at Adelanto. Meanwhile, at GEO Group’s only other California-based immigration detention facility in Bakersfield, a pregnant woman tripped and miscarried last month after GEO shackled her in violation of federal guidelines.
RACISM IN THE TEXAS COUNTY WHERE SANDRA BLAND DIED MYSTERIOUSLY IN A JAIL CELL
Recently released jail video and dash cam arrest footage further complicate the mystery of how Sandra Bland, a black woman on a road trip to start a new job at Prairie View A&M University, ended up dead in a jail cell in Waller County.
The history of racial prejudice in Waller County does not prove anything—one way or the other—about Sandra Bland’s death. Yet, it should not be disregarded either.
The Atlantic’s David Graham has more on Sandra Bland’s death and racism in Waller County. Here’s a clip:
Statewide, stops and citations for black people in Texas are actually lower than their share of the overall population, and the same holds true for stops by the Waller County sheriff and police in the towns of Hempstead and Prairie View.
But this might be one of the few areas where there isn’t evidence of racially disparate outcomes in Waller County, a place with a grim history of discrimination and tension—“racism from the cradle to the grave,” as DeWayne Charleston, a former county judge, put it to The Guardian.
The history is especially painful because Waller County was for a time a beacon of black progress. During Reconstruction, an office of the Freedmen’s Bureau opened in the county seat of Hempstead, and federal troops—including, for a time, some commanded by George Custer—occupied to keep the peace. Not coincidentally, the Ku Klux Klan also set up shop. Nonetheless, Hempstead became a locus of black political activity and hosted the Republican Party’s statewide convention in 1875. In 1876, the predecessor of Prairie View A&M was established, and in the 1880 Census, the county was majority black.
But the last two decades of the century saw an influx of white immigrants from Eastern Europe, and that dilution of the black vote, along with the end of Reconstruction, reduced blacks to a minority and slashed their political power. After a 1903 law established “white primaries,” African Americans were effectively shut out of politics—such that in a county with some 8,000 black voters, only 144 Republican votes were cast in 1912, according to The Handbook of Texas. Waller County, as Leah Binkovitz notes, had among the highest numbers of lynchings in the state between 1877 and 1950, according to a comprehensive report by the Equal Justice Initiative.
This may seem like distant history, but it set something of a pattern for the county’s race relations through to the present—and as the events of the last year have made clear, a place’s history is often an effective predictor of how it treats its black residents, from St. Louis County to Cuyahoga County. In fact, the disenfranchisement of black voters in Waller County has continued to be a source of contention.
In 2004, students at Prairie View A&M fought and won a battle over their right to vote in the county…
It’s good to see the County finally find the funding to cover the MET Teams so sorely needed to service the SCV and AV populations, which now total close to 700,000 people.
And Steve Johnson, promoted to Chief by Sheriff McDonnell? Steve’s career flourished under the Baca / Tanaka regime. It would be interesting to learn the Sheriff thinking on this promotion.
Yes, now Chief Johnson was never one known to rock the boat or stand up for those being decimated by the Baca/Tanaka regime. He could always be counted on to look conspicuously in the other direction. I guess it paid off for him, but ultimately it doesn’t for the entire organization. It just solidifies in the minds of many that going along with corruption is more profitable than opposing it.
Your building the wrong legacy, McDonnell.
Stevie J didn’t flourish under Baca/Tanaka. He was jacked out of MCB promoted and banished/isolated in Custody. There was a long quiet coup; some very bright competent people in the DD and thru out the Dept were promoted/moved into positions where they were forced to languish and retire depriving the Dept of a tremendous amount of institutional knowledge and proficiency. They were replaced with whippersnapper suckbutts who always arrive en masse with bogus new policy instead of doing the effing job. They’re still here, clueless and toxic, telling war stories, posturing, and sitting on their hands because they don’t know what they don’t know. We see u, and we know ur hanging on by a thread, using templates in lieu of job knowledge and leaning on professional staff because u have no leadership skills or administrative acumen. Ur tactical skills are an even bigger joke. Lord help us if the County has a major emergency mobilization, some of these “cops in cloth only” are going to get exposed in the ensuing clusterfuck. God bless the folks who still give a damn.
BTW, I just hope Stevie has enuff left in the tank to do the right thing and hasn’t gotten burned out from hiding in plain sight. Some of us still have no idea how bad the last regime was. People got beat down. Think about it. When goons had the temerity to remove IAB files on the weekend, who the hell jumps in the middle of that? That’s gangsta. Straight criminal enterprise. Redemption starts at home. I pray we all get a chance to start again.
I haven’t commented on this website in years, but I felt I had to because of the comments regarding Stevie J. He is a good man and a good cop. He was my ops in Det Div and he helped me raise the morale and get people promoted. I supported him to get the job as Waldie ‘s aide and from there he got promoted to Captain. Tanaka promoted him to commander out of Major Crimes Bureau to clear a spot for Ritenour, who was a staunch T-runt supporter. This was a common tanaka tactic, he promoted Todd Rogers to commander out of Carson Station to make room for his Gardena HS classmate, Bernice Abrams. There was no love between Rogers and Tanaka. Paul is a very smart, cunning, evil ass little punk that loves to pit good people against each other. Before making a statement about what you think happened, ask the question and maybe one of us old farts will give you true answer. I am proud to see that the majority of you opened your eyes finally and saw baca and tanaka for who they really were. You should never be LOYAL TO A PERSON, YOU SHOULD BE LOYAL TO THE ORGANIZATION, BECAUSE THE ORGANIZATION IS THE PEOPLE. A lot of people in the LASD forgot that and that is why the department is in the position it is today. There are people like Bobby O, me and others that fought out front and there are others that just did their jobs and took care of their people. There is no shame in that. We all handle things in our own way. The new sheriff has a long row to hoe and by some of the promotions he has made, he’s getting some bad advice. I hope he will ferret out the many DOUBLE AGENTS AND EXPOSE THEM FOR WHO AND WHAT THEY ARE. But, I’m not holding my breath. God speed youngsters.
Removing IAB files on weekends. Hard to believe. I’m quite sure whatever Captain was in charge of IAB would never have permitted it. Honor and integrity, core values, etc..would not have allowed for that kind of criminal behavior.
Sorry for being such a jack hole, but the hypocrisy of those that once ruled this organization still rub me raw even after so many years in retirement. OG, well stated and I also echo your thoughts regarding the character of Steve Johnson.
Perfect O.G……Ditto to ALADS……”.Loyalty to the organization”, not the snakes that run it.
I agree with most of what you have to say, but I will have to disagree on Johnson and anyone who was “doing their job and taking care of their people.” The ones who did that thrived in an environment that saw good people chewed up and careers destroyed. It meant picking winners and losers because of anything but merit. It meant never standing up to corruption but looking the other way because it was in your best interest. Johnson did just that, and many times over. It comes down to character, and I reserve my respect to those who were willing to be counted to do the right thing, regardless of cost.
You are quite right, Tanaka read the organization’s culture correctly and saw a clear path to the top, carved by punking out subordinates. The downfall of an organization built around political patronage.
Hey O.G. Thank you for some REAL TALK. The division iwithin the ranks is still there. I concur with you concerning how the little man was cunning & slithering.
It’s a real co-inky dinky how those directly involved with Paul either slid away or were charged with a crime. Still more house cleaning.
@4 I Dunno, the goons can purge all the files they want. ALL IAB and ICIB files are generated on servers and are completely recoverable. All IAB and ICIB interviews and Supp reports are computer generated and discoverable. Worry not,Netherlands FBI are all over it.
I worked around Johnson when he was a sergeant and crossed paths with him when he moved on to lieutenant. Can’t say I saw anything beyond average. Nice guy. HOWEVER, he is associated with one of my TOP 10 stories. I got a third hand story that I later verified, it was one of those WTF, you are totally BS-ing me ones…. the ones that you just can’t believe are true and then you are so F-ing shocked that they are. Back about five to seven years ago, when he was a custody captain, or commander, he had a bonus deputy who was responsible for washing and detailing his county car. So I said, you mean the dude drove it over to the eastern wash and had some trustee prisoners wash it. No, the B1 would dawn a jumpsuit, grab his workbag with supplies, and HE would wash and detail the ride, REGULARLY. HE was the only one allowed to wash Johnsin’s car. And for his loyalty, you guest it….sergeant stripes. Soooooo…… if I see him with butter bars, or working some kush job for the new chief…..WELLLLLLL…..
Re: I dunno — “When goons had the temerity to remove IAB files on the weekend, who the hell jumps in the middle of that?” Is there more information on this? What was the stated/rumored purpose? Were these hard paper case files or scanned into PPI and removed? The allegation sounds scandalous on its face.
I appreciate all your comments whether I agree or disagree with you. I am disappointed, not angry, with several people that drank the Tanaka/Baca koolaid, totally looked out for themselves, and turned a blind eye to everything that was going on. These were deputies to LASD executives and the more power and responsibility they had, the more people they hurt and disappointed. Many cops left the LASD one or two ranks below what they should have because Tanaka didn’t LIKE them. It costs them and their families thousands of dollars in retirement and Baca turned a blind eye and let that runt victimize those folks. In my humble opinion, Stevie J wasn’t one of them.
A lot of you have disdain for people that you believe should have stood up to those two idiots and their minions. I understand, my father once told me to stand up regardless if anyone else stands with you or not. That is the way I was raised, but most people aren’t raised like that so they do other things like talk to and try to protect their people. This is difficult to do because you don’t know who you can trust.
So youngsters, before you criticize and say what they should have done and what you would have done, think about it and have some sympathy for those who DISAPPOINTED YOU. God bless.
Sorry, I can’t find sympathy for those who profited at other’s expense. As for Johnson, well, what else can we say about an executive who was present but invisible throughout the entire Pandora’s Box debacle? Someone who knew full well how Tanaka was circumventing checks and balances, and he chose to go along to get along. He richly deserves the scorn that he has earned, cemented by his unwillingness to right wrongs that were within his control. Maybe he was a great guy as a sergeant or as a lieutenant, I did not know much of him back then. What I know of him now is troubling, illustrative of how low the department has sunk.
I will reserve my sympathy for those who risked it all, stuck their necks out to save the ship, and saw their careers die in the process. That they were not successful in their endeavors does not mean they failed, quite the contrary – they stood up to be counted among the honest and uncorruptable. They are the unsung heroes of the department, and can be found throughout the ranks, but they virtually disappear at the rank of captain and above.
#15….. Yup.
And McDonnell appears to CARE LESS about searching out those unsung hero’s, un-corruptible types, at Sgt. & Lt.
The ones who Tanaka purposely never allowed be anywhere near any of his corrupt BS…. because they would have clearly “Ricky Bobby’ed” him immediately with.. “With All Due Respect”…your an idiot…I’m not doing that…. it’s not legal, it’s not in policy, it’s just stupid.
All that would have been said following, “Hey Paul, who the F do you think your yelling at.”
No way Paul could have had that. I still can’t believe one of the supervisors at the now infamous MCJ meeting where he yelled and told Franklin to sit down and shut up…that no one just checked him….because their are individuals on this department, then and now, that would have, based on the basic policies of conduct towards others secondly, and firstly just as being a confident DEPUTY.