BATAVIA, Ohio (Nov. 28, 2017) – The installation of a Soter RS body scanner in July at the Clermont County Jail has led to a safer environment for both inmates and staff, according to Capt. Mike McConnell, chief of operations at the jail.
“Inmates always have and always will attempt to bring in items that they can’t have and are not permitted to have into the facility, whether it’s tobacco, drugs, weapons. And whether it’s in their body cavities, or their mouth, they will attempt to do it,” McConnell said. “That makes it very difficult for us to find it with normal pat searches and strip searches.”
Now, every inmate who is entering the jail – including trustees returning from outside assignments – must be scanned.
The scanner works similarly to an airport scanner, McConnell said. The inmate stands on a platform, which moves across a low-dose X-ray beam. Two hundred scans are the equivalent of an X-ray, he said.
Corrections officers go through training before they operate the scanner. They are trained to look for anomalies, McConnell said. Since the installation, officers have found lighters, heroin, and, in one case, a diamond ring.
When McConnell called the arresting officer to say they saw something that looked like a ring, the arresting officer told them it was evidence. The inmate had been charged in a breaking-and-entering, and had swallowed the ring.
The scanner cost approximately $187,000, and was paid for through the jail’s commissary fund. The commissary fund is generated by purchases made by inmates, and these funds have to be used for items that will benefit inmates, McConnell said.
“With the few things we’ve found already, we know that the body scanner has done its job,” he said.
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Renae Butcher and Denny Moell, of Child Focus’s Mobile Crisis Team. Their work is funded by MHRB.
BATAVIA, Ohio (Aug. 24, 2017) — Partnerships are crucial when it comes to dealing with mental health issues among inmates at the County Jail, said Administrator Joe Palmer.
“I don’t know how we could operate now without our wonderful partners,” he said.
Those partners include the Clermont County Mental Health & Recovery Board, whose levy funds the Mobile Crisis Team. (Mobile Crisis is operated by Child Focus Inc.) Renae Butcher, a social worker from Mobile Crisis, is now working full time at the jail, helping to assess inmates who appear to be dealing with a mental illness.
The Mobile Crisis Team also assists the Mental Health and Recovery Board in providing Crisis Intervention Training to law enforcement and corrections officers in Clermont County, teaching them through role-playing and other exercises how to react to and work with those who show signs of mental illness when they are responding to a call, or encounter them in jail. At least 60% of corrections officers have completed the training.
Another partner is Greater Cincinnati Behavioral Health Services (GCB), which has two locations in Clermont County, one for mental health services in Amelia and the Clermont Recovery Center for addiction services in Batavia.
Recently, a memorandum of understanding between the County Jail and GCB allows the sharing of a database between the two. This allows corrections officers to determine whether a new inmate is a GCB client. “Joe Smith comes in, we put him in our system and cross-check with GCB,” Palmer says, giving an example. “We notify GCB – Joe Smith is here, you can come see him. Now we know what medications he needs, we know what his particular mental health issue is. It’s a win-win for everybody.” (A legal opinion from the Hamilton County Prosecutor said this did not violate doctor-patient privilege.)
“If you have mental health issues, you do not leave here without a referral to Greater Cincinnati Behavioral Health Services,” Palmer added. “A case worker will come here to see you before your discharge. We’re doing our very best to make sure that your mental health needs are provided for.”
A grant just awarded to MHRB from the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services has allowed for Butcher’s position to move from part-time to full-time at the jail, and will allow GCB to hire a full-time case manager to work with inmates upon their release from jail, connecting them to treatment options.
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Jail Administrator Joe Palmer
BATAVIA, Ohio (Aug. 24, 2017) – It’s no secret that jails in the United States have become homes, and sometimes havens, to those with mental illness. National studies have shown that nearly 15% of men and 30% of women booked into jails have a serious mental health condition, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Clermont County has long recognized that and was one of the first counties in the nation to join the “Stepping Up” Initiative developed by the National Association of Counties (NACo) to reduce the number of people with mental illness in jail. According to Karen Scherra, Executive Director of the Mental Health and Recovery Board (MHRB), “Clermont County’s collaborative efforts to address this issue have been recognized at the state and federal level and have assisted many individuals with getting needed treatment services.”
Now, a grant for $83,333 that MHRB was awarded from the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services will put more resources toward screening and possible diversion of those with mental illness into treatment programs.
Every day, corrections officers at the Clermont County Jail encounter inmates who have a mental illness. In 2016, an average of 22 people were put on suicide watch every month at the County Jail. The jail has strict protocols it follows to make sure that inmates who have mental health issues are treated appropriately. But first and foremost, is the philosophy behind it, said jail Administrator Joseph Palmer: “You are not here to die,” he said. “We will do everything possible to preserve your humanity.”
Screening for mental illness
All corrections officers are instructed in how to screen inmates for mental illness, and are trained on how to work with people in crisis. They also depend on the expertise of social worker Renae Butcher, a member of the Clermont County Mobile Crisis Team. The grant has allowed her to move from part time to full time at the jail, where she screens inmates for possible mental illness and works with them during crises. The grant will also allow a full-time case manager to be hired who will connect inmates with resources as they are released.
Additionally, medical staff at the jail includes a nurse who specializes in mental health, and a psychiatrist who visits the jail twice a month, and is available to take nurses’ calls at any time.
It all begins, says Palmer, with a screening form at inmate intake. “If someone is suffering from psychosis or DTs (delirium tremens), we will know that and they will be refused admittance,” he said. “We don’t have to accept you,” he said. “We must be able to accept you safely and securely.”
“One of the basic things we do is ask, does this person need to be in a hospital instead of a jail?” said Denny Moell, who heads the Mobile Crisis Team, which is managed by Child Focus Inc. and funded by MHRB. “We evaluate and assess them. Most of the time, they can stay in jail. Sometimes we refer them for further evaluation at Summit Behavioral Health in Hamilton County. Summit can do a longer-term admission. They have a forensic unit – so they can handle those who are coming from jail.”
Added Butcher: “If the inmate seems suicidal, we see if we can get them calmed down. Can we keep them in jail safely, or do we need to move them to Mercy Clermont or Summit?” So far in 2017, nine inmates have been referred to Summit.
Suicide watch precautions
There are two levels of suicide watch at the jail. “If we even SUSPECT you’re suicidal, you’re put on Level 1 or Level 2 watch immediately,” Palmer said.
The Sheriff’s Office has a set of policies that outline procedures to take whenever an inmate is placed on Level 1 or Level 2 watch. These include securing the inmate, administering first aid and summoning medical assistance, completing a questionnaire with the inmate, and removing any clothing items that might assist in suicide. Inmates are issued safe gowns and blankets and are placed in holding cells.
For a Level 1 watch, inmates are checked at least every 10 minutes. For a Level 2 watch, they are put in a cell in front of the booking area and continuously monitored.
Palmer says the sheriff’s protocols err on the side of protecting life. “We put more people on a Level 1 or Level 2 watch than any other medium-level jail in Ohio,” he said. “The Chief of Operations for the Department of Corrections told us that. ‘The inspector says, you don’t take any chances, do you?’ And I said, ‘No, no chances with a human life.’”
The Sheriff’s Office contracts with Southern Health Partners for all medical, dental and mental health services at the jail. The current two-year contract for 2017-2019 is $1.65 million. This includes nursing staff – at least one nurse at all times, and sometimes as many as three; a mental health nurse twice a week, and a psychiatrist twice a month. The psychiatrist can prescribe psychotropic drugs over the phone should an inmate need them, Palmer said.
“While you are here, we are going to do our very best to make sure that your mental health needs are provided for,” Palmer said. “Because we’re dealing with a person’s life.”
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BATAVIA, Ohio (March 9, 2017) – Interested in learning more about county government and how your tax dollars are spent? Clermont County is celebrating National County Government Month – April – by holding open houses on consecutive Tuesdays in April. The public is invited and is asked to register at www.clermontcountyohio.gov/national-county-government-month or call Kathleen Williams at 513.732.7597.
Tuesday, April 4: Meet Your Commissioners
10-11 a.m.: 101 E. Main St., Batavia, Third Floor
Meet the Commissioners in Session Room. Learn about the basics of county government, the BCC’s responsibilities, what’s on tap for 2017. Q&A.
Tuesday, April 11: #GreenClermont – Protecting our water & environment
10 a.m.-noon Bob McEwen Water Treatment Plant, 3960 Greenbriar Road, Batavia
Take a tour of the plant and learn from our Water Resources team how water is treated in Clermont County. Q&A. Also participating: Office of Environmental Quality and Soil & Water Conservation District.
Tuesday, April 18: Law, Order and Justice
11 a.m.-noon: Sheriff’s Office , 4470 SR 222, Batavia
Meet Sheriff Leahy and his chiefs. What is the Sheriff’s Office responsible for? What are its biggest challenges? Q&A.
Concurrent:
1-2 p.m.: Municipal Court, 4430 SR 222, Batavia: Representatives from Municipal Court, the Prosecutor’s Office and Public Defender’s Office talk about their roles and how the court functions. Q&A.
1-2 p.m.: Common Pleas Court, 270 E. Main St., Batavia: Representatives from Common Pleas Court, the Prosecutor’s Office and Public Defender’s Office talk about their roles and how the court functions. Q&A.
Tuesday, April 25: Supporting Families & Healthy Living
10 a.m.-11 a.m.: Representatives from Children’s Protective Services, Child Support Enforcement, and Developmental Disabilities on how their agencies make a difference. Q&A.
11 a.m.-noon: Representatives from Clermont Public Health and Mental Health & Recovery Board talk about their initiatives and challenges. Q&A.
Both sessions at Engineer’s Training Room, 2381 Clermont Center Drive, Batavia.
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BATAVIA, Ohio (Sept. 23, 2016) – The Clermont County Sheriff’s Office meets the standards in use of force, recruitment and hiring that were established a year ago by the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board as part of the State of Ohio’s efforts to strengthen community and police relations.
The Ohio Collaborative, a 12-person panel, established state standards – for the first time in Ohio’s history – on Aug. 28, 2015, for the use of force, including use of deadly force, and agency employee recruitment and hiring, to help guide law enforcement agencies in Ohio.
“The state developed these standards so that all law enforcement agencies are on the same page when it comes to such things as use of force,” said Deputy Chief Steve Leahy.
Under Sheriff Tim Rodenberg, the Sheriff’s Office has maintained very clear standards on use of force and recruitment. Very little needed to be changed to meet the new standards, said Capt. Chris Stratton, who organized the application process. “We were fortunate,” he said. “We had everything they were looking for.” A representative from the Advisory Board visited the Sheriff’s Office to review policies and standards and how they are communicated.
The hiring process at the Sheriff’s Office is intensive, and involves testing, panel interviews, and background checks. Once hired, a new recruit goes through two weeks of orientation. That is followed by 12 weeks of field training with different officers on both day and night shifts, so that the recruit can handle a variety of calls. Probation continues for a full year.
Ohio has partnered with the Buckeye State Sheriffs’ Association and the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police to help certify Ohio’s nearly 1,000 law enforcement agencies to ensure that they are in compliance with Ohio’s new standards. The Miami Township Police Department and Milford Police Department are also certified in Clermont County.
For more information on the Ohio Collaborative, the certification process for law enforcement and the complete list of agencies that have been certified, please visit: http://www.ocjs.ohio.gov/ohiocollaborative.
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Deputy Adam Bailey and Mox check out a car during a recent directed patrol.
BATAVIA, Ohio (July 27, 2016) – Since April, the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office has conducted six “directed patrols” – coordinated efforts with other police agencies in the county targeted at those driving while under the influence of drugs. To date, the patrols have made 116 traffic stops, leading to:
“We were getting complaints from citizens driving to work in the morning, saying that they were seeing people weave on the road, or going left of center again and again. They would say, ‘it’s obvious these people are on drugs,’” said Chief Deputy Steve Leahy. “This is the time of day when addicts are waking up, getting together with other users, and then going out to buy drugs. Then a couple of hours later, you’d see them come back – often after using.”
Greater Cincinnati has experienced a number of accidents in the last couple of years attributed to drugged drivers, several of which have had fatalities. “Our first priority is to keep people safe,” Leahy said.
The Sheriff’s Office decided a new tactic – directed patrols – was needed.
How they work
The directed patrols, which are coordinated by Capt. Jeffrey Sellars, consist of traffic, canine, narcotics and investigation units. The Sheriff’s Office reaches out to other local law enforcement to get input on problem areas, Leahy said, including Pierce and Union townships, and New Richmond.
“There is no rhyme or reason to what day we pick to go out on patrol,” said Leahy, stressing that doing the patrols on a surprise basis is key to their success. “We’ve had great success in the first couple of hours, during these patrols,” he said, “but then word goes out, and the users are letting other people know to go different routes.”
Since heroin users are more apt to use the drug immediately, officers have not often found heroin in the cars that they stop. The officers will stop cars that are weaving or going left of center; they will run a tag to see if it has expired, or look for other indications that give them probable cause to pull the driver over, said Leahy.
The routes patrolled are ones that users are using to get their drugs – either south to Northern Kentucky or west to Cincinnati, Leahy said.
These directed patrols are just one method the Sheriff’s Office is using to combat the increased use of heroin and other opioids in Clermont County, he said. The office has also added manpower to Jackson, Stonelick and Wayne townships, where Leahy and his team identified crime “hot spots” in January as they reviewed 2015 trends. “We added an additional deputy during the day shift,” he said. “Our thinking was that if they see more deputies, they may be less likely to commit crimes.”
Within four months, property crimes – the crimes most likely to be committed by addicts and which include breaking and entering, burglary and theft – had dropped more than 50%, from 506 for the same period in 2015 to 194 in 2016.
“We’ll take another look at the numbers in August,” Leahy said.
Success with Narcan
Law enforcement is also on the front line when it comes to responding to overdose calls. Since the last quarter of 2014, the Sheriff’s Office has administered Narcan, a drug that reverses the effects of an overdose, 52 times. Of those, officers were able to save 46 lives.
This beefed-up law enforcement is just one of the many ways Clermont County is addressing its problems with heroin and other opioid addictions. Both Leahy and Sellars are members of the county’s Opiate Task Force, a collaborative that brings together stakeholders from law enforcement, the courts, mental health, recovery and treatment, family, business, and local government to address the issue.
“Law enforcement by itself is not going to change things,” said Leahy. “Incarceration alone is not going to solve the problem.”
Contact: Chief Deputy Steve Leahy, sleahy@clermontcountyohio.gov; 513.732.7672
Related:
Overdose deaths climb in 2015
Get rid of prescription drugs at drop boxes
Family reunification is focus of panel at Opiate Conference
Clermont County publishes Substance Abuse Recovery Guide
CASC reopens
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COLUMBUS (June 21, 2016) – Ohio has joined a growing national effort to reduce the number of persons with mental illness who cycle through county jails. State and county officials last week convened in Columbus to learn how the national Stepping Up Initiative is bringing local criminal justice and behavioral health systems together to improve public safety, access to services, and treatment outcomes.
The Stepping Up Initiative was launched in May 2015 as a partnership of The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, The National Association of Counties, and The American Psychiatric Association Foundation. The initiative is designed to rally national, state, and local leaders around the goal of reducing the number of people with mental illnesses and substance use disorders in jail.
“Ohio has been a leader in establishing mental health and veterans courts, developing Crisis Intervention Teams in law enforcement, and other efforts to reform the criminal justice system for persons with mental illness,” said retired Ohio Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, who will serve as project director of the Ohio Stepping Up Initiative. “Once again, we are proud to be a leader in a national effort. Our work through the Stepping Up Initiative will improve public safety, break the cycle of jail for persons with mental illness, and increase their access to treatment.”
Jail administrators, law enforcement officials, elected officials, treatment providers and other stakeholders from 23 Ohio counties, including Clermont County, attended the June 16 Ohio Stepping Up Summit where they heard from Justice Stratton and several other state and national experts, including Attorney General of Ohio Mike DeWine, Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services Director Tracy Plouck and Dr. Fred Osher, director of Health Systems and Services Policy at the CSG Justice Center.
At the summit, county teams attended working sessions framed by six questions related to the commitment of their local leadership, their use of screening and assessments, the existing level of baseline data in their county, the degree to which they track progress, and other considerations. As participants, Stepping Up counties receive access to an online resources toolkit to assist with their efforts, including a series of webinars, planning tools, resources, technical assistance and distance-learning opportunities.
“Clermont County has long been a leader in collaboration, involving the Mental Health and Recovery Board, treatment providers, the courts, judges and probation departments, the jail, law enforcement and county government.” stated Karen Scherra, Executive Director of the MHR Board. “The Stepping Up Initiative is another mechanism to provide our county with ideas and practices we can use to improve our current systems.”
Each year, an estimated 2 million people with serious mental illnesses are admitted to jails across the nation – a rate that’s three to six times higher than that of the general public. Nearly three-quarters of these adults also have drug and alcohol use problems. Once incarcerated, individuals with mental illnesses tend to stay longer in jail and upon release are at a higher risk of returning to incarceration than those without these illnesses.
“The number of people with mental illnesses in U.S. jails has reached a crisis level,” said OhioMHAS Director Plouck, who also serves on the CSG Justice Center’s national board of directors. “The vast majority of these individuals who have committed minor offenses can be safely treated, and if necessary, placed under community supervision, instead of being put behind bars. We’re excited to join this effort and look forward to working with our partners at all levels to help counties achieve their goals.”
Learn more about the Stepping Up Initiative at https://stepuptogether.org/. View a map of participating Ohio counties, and discover more about Ohio’s efforts to reduce the number of criminal offenders with untreated mental illness and/or substance use disorders who continually cycle through county jails at: http://mha.ohio.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=852
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BATAVIA, Ohio (Sept. 3, 2015) – Clermont County residents are encouraged to drop off their old or expired prescriptions during National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26.
Dropoff sites include: Amelia Police Department, 44 W. Main St.; Clermont Sheriff at Central Joint Fire/EMS, 2401 Old S.R. 32; Clermont Sheriff at Clermont Northeastern Schools, 5327 Hutchinson Road; Felicity Police Department, 415 W. Walnut St.; Goshen Police Department, 6757 Goshen Road; New Richmond Police Department, 102 Willow St.; Pierce Township Police Department, 950 Locust Corner Road; and Union Township Police at Civic Center, 4350 Aicholtz Road.
In addition, these sites have permanent drop boxes: Amelia Police Department, Bethel Police Department, Goshen Police Department, Pierce Township Police Department, and the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office.
Residents are urged to turn in their unused or expired medication for safe disposal on Sept. 26. For more information, please visit the http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/index.html. Clermont County Mental Health and Recovery Board and the Opiate Task Force are sponsoring the local event.
