Photo from court exhibit shows people awaiting screening in a reception area in an LA County jail in Downtown LA.
More than a dozen new beds for people suffering from extreme mental health issues will be added to the Twin Towers jail complex in Downtown LA -- where several lawsuits filed by inmates and their advocates have accused LA County of failing to fix overcrowded conditions.
The "Jail Inpatient Unit," approved by the Board of Supervisors this week, will provide at least 16 beds for the evaluation and treatment of people who may be a danger to themselves or others, or who are considered gravely disabled, according to the Board motion that created the new unit.
“It is a drop in the bucket, but you have to start somewhere," Supervisor Kathryn Barger told NBCLA Wednesday, acknowledging much larger scale improvements in the jail system are needed to remedy the current problems.
“It’s going to at least allow them to have an area to do triage and allow them begin treatment, for those that are both coming into the system, and those who are already there," she said.
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In February the ACLU asked a federal judge to hold the County in contempt of court for failing to improve jail conditions for people in need of mental health care, after records from the Sheriff's Department showed numerous people were held in a reception area for hours or days at a time, sometimes chained to chairs and benches without access to bathrooms or food.
The judge in that case was set to visit the jail Thursday to see the crowding problems firsthand.
Barger said with a sharp increase in the number of people in jail who need mental heath treatment, she's hopeful state regulators will allow the County to increase the number of beds in the new unit, which for now are capped by state law.
