Rogers Co. Sheriff's Office Awarded Grant To Help With Inmate Mental Health Treatment

The Rogers County Sheriff’s Office has been awarded a grant to help inmates get mental health treatment.

The program will allow inmates to get mental health treatment faster, because some of them have been on the waiting list for more than a year.

The sheriff’s office hopes by focusing on getting inmates the treatment they need early, they can keep them from coming back to jail.

The $550,000 will help the Rogers County Sheriff’s Office continue the mental health response program started in July.

One of the goals is to help people move through the court system faster, especially when competency becomes an issue.

"There are individuals here that are on crimes that we could expedite a lot quicker if we could get them mentally fit and move them through the system," said Jon Sappington, the Undersheriff of the Rogers County Sheriff’s Office.

The money will pay for mental health specialists who will make sure inmates have treatments that work and do follow up with those inmates.

"There are people that go to jail that jail is not the place for them,” said Josiah Moore, a deputy with the Crisis Intervention Team. “And if we can help facilitate a proper treatment plan and keep these family members, kids, whoever it may be out of jail."

Moore said it’s important to look beyond the crime to see if there’s an underlying issue.

"For instance, if they're in crisis and they commit the crime, let's find out why they committed the crime,” Moore said. “And if it's because they're in crisis or going into psychosis, let's treat that instead of punish it."

Sappington believes that by treating mental health issues when people are in custody, it will make them less likely to become repeat offenders.

"If we can start getting them treatment and getting them the resources upon intake, I think we can shorten the stay, and hopefully decrease the likelihood of them ever coming back," said Sappington.

The grant money will help establish the program over the next three years.