Kevin Stuart, Brazos County’s deputy for corrections, said the sheriff’s office rushed 767 people to hospital in the crisis in 2019. Of these, said Stuart, 521 people went to Rock Prairie.
“That number is people we are now taking outside of the county. So you add hours to each of these trips. This has a huge impact on our staffing levels, ”said Stuart, the prison’s administrator. “It’s also about taking care of the patient. If you take someone with you who is initially unwell and who is dropped off in another county, their families may have to travel and sometimes do not have the means to do so. “
Many people with mental health problems end up in jail, the leaders said, because sometimes there is no other place for them. Stuart encouraged those working on mental health resources to look at the causes of mental health problems, not just the effects on prison.
“We need a hospital, but if you really want to tackle the problem … the prison can’t do what a mental hospital can do,” said Stuart. “Prison is for people who have committed a crime and are waiting to be tried and may protect the community, but prison is not for people who are sick – and that’s what evolved from it over time . ”
Robert Reed, director of behavioral health operations at the MHMR agency in the Brazos Valley, said the MHMR team of approximately 95 psychologists work in seven counties in the Brazos Valley. MHMR teams are often referred to as responding to crisis assessment. Reed said their total load, including ongoing maintenance, is about 125% capacity.
