ATLANTA — On Monday, the Cobb County Sheriff's Office made history becoming the first in Georgia to launch a 24/7 mental health center for detainees. Organizers said the program is designed to help treat and diagnose inmates with mental and behavioral health issues.
Leaders say the center will also target the root cause of crime, such as preventing repeat offenders by giving these inmates tools to ensure success outside of jail.
“Over 70% of individuals in our facility have mental health issues. What better way to give them the help they need while they’re here than services that will be around 24 hours," explained Cobb County Sheriff Craig D. Owens Sr.
Leaders said the mental health center will have full-time psychiatrists, psych-registered nurses, and licensed practical nurses. The sheriff added that many inmates would have never entered the criminal justice system if they had access to mental health services at various stages of life.
“Sometimes repeat offenders never really get the correct treatment, so that they can be, for a lack of better terms, 'good' when they go back out, so hopefully we can try to address some of those issues," said Cobb County Sheriff Craig D. Owens Sr.
The announcement comes as Fulton County leaders work to tackle overcrowding at their jail in support of inmate's mental and physical health. On Monday morning, the Fulton County Sheriff announced that 100 detainees were being transferred to Cobb County to reduce the inmate population.
Last week, the City of Atlanta announced its detention center would be opening to inmates with behavioral and mental health issues to alleviate overcrowding at the Fulton County Jail, while providing resources to prevent repeat offenders.
Both the Fulton and Cobb County sheriff added that mental health resources are critical in reducing crime.