""There's nothing wrong with him. If there were, it would say so in his file." I heard a licensed mental health counselor say those words to a correctional officer as they stood side by side, watching a man through a large plexiglass window that took up most of the wall of an observation cell, a cell used for people deemed a threat to themselves or others. Inside, the man was visibly unraveling, pacing, talking to someone who wasn't there."
"We were in B-4, the mental health unit at Orange County Jail in Goshen, New York, known among incarcerated men and staff as the "bug-out" unit. I was 19 years old, newly incarcerated, and already diagnosed with several mental health disorders. In my naive and inexperienced mind, I thought the man in that cell was going to receive some sort of help."
Twenty-nine percent of incarcerated individuals are currently on the mental health caseload according to DOCCS. A counselor dismissed a visibly unraveling man by saying nothing was wrong unless it appeared in his file while staff watched through an observation cell. The B-4 unit at Orange County Jail is known as the "bug-out" unit for those deemed a threat to themselves or others. Mental health services in New York jails require documented diagnoses and accompanying paperwork to trigger care. Prior health insurance enabled documented diagnosis, placement on the caseload, monthly check-ins, medication, and specialized housing.
Read at Truthout
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