From Data Collaborative for Justice:
Executive Summary
The New York City Council established a legal deadline of August 31, 2027 for closing the jails on Rikers Island and building smaller modern jails in the City’s four large boroughs.1 The replacement jails, when combined with over 300 secure hospital beds for people with serious medical or mental health conditions, will hold a citywide capacity of about 4,200 people on any given day.2 However, since reaching a low watermark of 3,809 in April 2020,3 the City’s daily jail population
has grown to nearly 7,000—alongside a ballooning sub-population in need of mental health treatment.4 Today, Rikers is the largest mental health facility in New York City and among the largest in the country.5
The goals of the current research and policy brief are threefold:
1. Present updated data about the mental health needs of people held in the NYC jails.
2. Reveal the individuals behind these facts through select case studies.
3. Identify a continuum of safe and effective jail diversion strategies for this population.
Latest Facts About Mental Health in NYC Jails
Currently, close to 7,000 people are held in the City’s jails, of whom 85% have been detained before trial. Black people make up 58% of the jail population, compared to 23% of the City’s general population. In absolute terms, over twice as many Black people as the next highest racial/ ethnic group are in jail while flagging for mental health.
Read the full report here.
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