NY lawmakers probe care for mentally ill inmates

As seen in the Houston Chronicle, much more info at the link.

The head of the troubled New York City jail system said Thursday it's critical to send mentally ill inmates to treatment programs instead of a lockup.

Department of Corrections Commissioner Joseph Ponte told state lawmakers that Rikers Island is poorly equipped to be a mental health treatment center. The primary goal, one he shares with the medical staff, is to keep staff and inmates safe, he said.

"Violence at Rikers Island the past five or six years has gone through the roof," Ponte said, adding that assaults on his medical staff have tripled.

Dr. Homer Venters, head of the jail's health services, testified alongside Ponte. He said admission medical screenings done on every incoming inmate show about 25 percent have mental illnesses, though that diagnosis applies to about 38 percent of the daily population of about 11,500. Those inmates tend to stay twice as long.

which brings up the question of:

Are the shrinks are competent to handle the problem? That is, beyond the usual quick fix of chemical straight jackets, or even just doping up the prisoners . . .