{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"KZYX News","title":"Jail mental healthcare contract comes up short","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":389,"description":"November 18, 2021 — The Board of Supervisors declined to approve a $3.5 million increase in the healthcare contract at the county jail this week, which would have brought the agreement total up to just over $19.1 million. But supervisors rebuffed a presentation by top management at Naphcare, which has been providing healthcare to inmates since 2017, calling the documents “thin” and asking tough questions about mental healthcare.\r\nNaphCare Chief Psychologist Amber Simpler told the board that about a third of the inmates are on psychiatric medications. But Dr. Jenine MIller, head of the county’s behavioral health department, took a question about what she thinks is missing from the contract.\r\n“We don’t have a clinician in Mendocino County Jail,” she said. “That was not part of the original contract. That is something I asked. How did we go without getting at least one mental health clinician within that contract...I think it is something that’s missing.” She added that when she spoke with the contractor in April, she received a quote that adding one to two mental health clinicians would cost anywhere from $160,000 to $350,000.\r\nSupervisor Glenn McGourty noted that the current budget allocates $570,000 to mental healthcare services in the jail. “What are we getting for that, and why doesn’t it include someone who does mental health assessments?” he asked.\r\nNaphCare COO Susanne Moore told him that money was for the competency restoration program, which trains inmates to understand their legal predicament so they can assist their defense attorneys and stand trial. \r\nSupervisor Ted Williams asked about reports he’s heard from his constituents about family members being kept in solitary confinement for long stretches of time without proper medication. He wanted to know why a psychotic inmate patient can’t be forced to accept psychiatric medications. “How many solitary confinements have to do with mental health, and what is the average duration in Mendocino County?” he...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/xZpAumwbhFUpJUYcwaQ1-q6snzOyqAm13l7cW6AWPCM/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mMzkz/NjAwNjc2OWMyZmFk/YWY2YTdmYjI5M2Mz/YWMxNy5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}