When someone is experiencing a mental health crisis, often the only alternatives are jail or an emergency room. Neither of those alternatives is particularly helpful, and sometimes they can make a person’s condition worse. Nationwide, cities and counties are searching for cheaper and more therapeutic options.
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Stearns County officials estimate nearly two-thirds of people in the jail on any given day have a mental illness, either diagnosed or not .So Stearns County, along with CentraCare, local law enforcement and the St. Cloud VA, formed an action team of police, human services, probation agents and mental health workers. They meet and compare notes on people in jail or in the community who might benefit from intervention.
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