Incredible images give a glimpse inside US mental health detention centre where more than 3,000 inmates are treated for their conditions
Photographer Lili Holzer-Glier, from New York, was allowed inside Cook County Department of Corrections in Chicago
INCREDIBLE photos provide a revealing glimpse inside a US mental health jail where over 3,000 inmates are treated for their conditions.
Cook County Department of Corrections in Chicago – one of the world’s largest single-site pre-detention facilities – houses around 9,000 inmates awaiting trial and sentencing.
Some 35 per cent of the people being kept there are mentally ill and the jail has become one of the largest mental health care providers in the US.
Photographer Lili Holzer-Glier, from New York, was allowed inside to see the world of the roughly 3,000 inmates who suffer from mental health problems.
She said: “Now more patients than ever are being treated in jail rather than at a mental health facility.”
Another “wide-eyed” inmate pulled his knees up to his chin and whispered about telekinesis and the CIA, Lili said.
A third man whose face was covered in scars told her: “Someone cut off all my toes. I’m so glad I’m finally in the hospital.”
Lili said: “Every morning, a team of social workers interviews all of the people arrested the night before to screen for mental illness.
“Those who are severely mentally ill are immediately separated and sent to the unit for acutely mentally ill people and seen by a doctor.
“Those with mild to moderate mental illness are placed in a dormitory-like setting where they receive daily therapy and medication.”
Following an assessment by a social worker, psychotic, violent, or suicidal inmates are placed in single cells away from others.
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Lili interviewed several inmates, four of which were only diagnosed with mental illnesses when they were arrested.
She said: “The four men I spoke to were non-violent offenders who suffered from mild to moderate mental illness that most likely led to self-medication with illegal drugs or alcohol.
“The social workers at the jail told me this is extremely common among inmates.
“People suffer from an undiagnosed mental illness, often because there is little access to care and there is major stigma around mental illness. This often leads to self-medication with street drugs which often leads to jail.”
Lili continued: “Some inmates that are medicated and doing well in jail are released and can't find access to care in the community and go off their meds and often land back in jail.
“Social workers and corrections officers told me they remember a few cases of people intentionally committing a crime so they could go back to jail and get treated.”
The Cook County Sheriff’s Office estimates the cost to house an inmate is £108 per day.
But this figure doubles or even trebles when including treatment, medication and the added security that is required to look after a mentally ill person.
She recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to turn the project into a book to be published by Powerhouse next year, titled “Cook County Jail: Mental Illness Behind Bars”.
Lili added: “Cook County is making a major effort to help mentally ill inmates once they're in custody but many social workers point out that jail is a terrible place, especially for the mentally ill.”
She continued: “This can often lead to inmates' mental health deteriorating behind bars, behavioural issues get worse, which can lead to punishment by isolation which can lead to further mental deterioration.
“I was so impressed with the work that Cook County Jail is doing to help its mentally ill inmates. My understanding is, they're the exception, not the norm.
“Every person I met there from doctors, to corrections officers, to the program directors were absolutely dedicated to helping the mentally ill that landed in jail.”
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