Sheriff Donna Buckley

I don't think you're missing it. I think that... I've had conversations with legislators about the fact that there are physical facilities that need to be in place, provide services for people, especially for mental health services. And it's a non-starter.

I don't think you're missing it. I think that... I've had conversations with legislators about the fact that there are physical facilities that need to be in place, provide services for people, especially for mental health services. And it's a non-starter.

I don't think you're missing it. I think that... I've had conversations with legislators about the fact that there are physical facilities that need to be in place, provide services for people, especially for mental health services. And it's a non-starter.

While everybody will pay lip service to the fact that it was the worst public policy decision in the history of the world to close all the residential mental health facilities, nobody is willing to step forward and say we need new ones. So I'm not giving up on that conversation.

While everybody will pay lip service to the fact that it was the worst public policy decision in the history of the world to close all the residential mental health facilities, nobody is willing to step forward and say we need new ones. So I'm not giving up on that conversation.

While everybody will pay lip service to the fact that it was the worst public policy decision in the history of the world to close all the residential mental health facilities, nobody is willing to step forward and say we need new ones. So I'm not giving up on that conversation.

Not only do we need facilities for people to be safe and for the public to be safe that are not jails, but we also need services. We need access to providers. You know, in Barnesville County right now, our, quote, access for people who don't have the ability to private pay their way through, three to six to nine months to see someone. That's not access. And financially, insurance is a huge issue.

Not only do we need facilities for people to be safe and for the public to be safe that are not jails, but we also need services. We need access to providers. You know, in Barnesville County right now, our, quote, access for people who don't have the ability to private pay their way through, three to six to nine months to see someone. That's not access. And financially, insurance is a huge issue.

Not only do we need facilities for people to be safe and for the public to be safe that are not jails, but we also need services. We need access to providers. You know, in Barnesville County right now, our, quote, access for people who don't have the ability to private pay their way through, three to six to nine months to see someone. That's not access. And financially, insurance is a huge issue.

So there's so many places along the spectrum that this is broken. But at the same time, I can speak for myself as sheriff and say I'm not waiting. I'm not willing to write people off until we get this system straightened out. So we have stepped forward here in Barnstable. We parted ways with a private medical and mental health vendor and brought our own staff inside. We are ready.

So there's so many places along the spectrum that this is broken. But at the same time, I can speak for myself as sheriff and say I'm not waiting. I'm not willing to write people off until we get this system straightened out. So we have stepped forward here in Barnstable. We parted ways with a private medical and mental health vendor and brought our own staff inside. We are ready.

So there's so many places along the spectrum that this is broken. But at the same time, I can speak for myself as sheriff and say I'm not waiting. I'm not willing to write people off until we get this system straightened out. So we have stepped forward here in Barnstable. We parted ways with a private medical and mental health vendor and brought our own staff inside. We are ready.

retraining our staff. They're all trained in mental health first aid. They're trained in cognitive behavioral therapy. We're working specifically on increasing the ability of our staff to interact with the populations that we have.

retraining our staff. They're all trained in mental health first aid. They're trained in cognitive behavioral therapy. We're working specifically on increasing the ability of our staff to interact with the populations that we have.

retraining our staff. They're all trained in mental health first aid. They're trained in cognitive behavioral therapy. We're working specifically on increasing the ability of our staff to interact with the populations that we have.

We're going to be hosting in September a training that includes a focus on autism and a focus on correctional behavioral health workers because that's the job we're asking them to do. So we have to train them for that. We're seeing success, and maybe if the answer to the question that you have is that we rethink

We're going to be hosting in September a training that includes a focus on autism and a focus on correctional behavioral health workers because that's the job we're asking them to do. So we have to train them for that. We're seeing success, and maybe if the answer to the question that you have is that we rethink

We're going to be hosting in September a training that includes a focus on autism and a focus on correctional behavioral health workers because that's the job we're asking them to do. So we have to train them for that. We're seeing success, and maybe if the answer to the question that you have is that we rethink

I don't think the jail facility itself is the best place to hold people, but if the work that we can do is checking off all the boxes, then that's a good thing.

I don't think the jail facility itself is the best place to hold people, but if the work that we can do is checking off all the boxes, then that's a good thing.