Talk:Harris County, Texas jails

largest mental health facility?

https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2019/02/17/largest-mental-health-facility-texas-shouldnt-jail states that the jails collectively have been called the largest mental health facility in Texas... WhisperToMe (talk) 21:47, 11 July 2019 (UTC)

@WhisperToMe: You make an excellent point and this should be expanded within the article. I would need to find a source for this statement, but Harris County Judge Emmett made similar claims and made this a central policy issue while he was still in office. IIRC County Judge Hidalgo is leading a similar policy.Oldsanfelipe2 (talk) 20:22, 1 February 2020 (UTC)

@WhisperToMe: I found some related material. If it does not belong in this article, maybe it should have its own article. Judge Emmett talked about this idea for several years, so finding sources should not be a problem. The name of the resulting program Harris County Mental Health Jail Diversion Program, which is diversion for non-violent, low-level offenses: [1] Houston Public Media produced a story about it here [2]. "Some of the roughly 9,000 people in the county lock-up have been booked 70 to 80 times for offenses such as trespassing and loitering, showing that the county lockup is not always the appropriate place for people with mental illnesses, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said." [3] Oldsanfelipe2 (talk) 20:47, 3 February 2020 (UTC)

@Oldsanfelipe2: Feel free to add it to thus article! If/when it becomes too big it can always be spun off WhisperToMe (talk) 21:36, 3 February 2020 (UTC)