LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- After more than a dozen inmate deaths and a scathing report highlighting the issues that led to them, Louisville's jail continues taking steps towards improvement.
This week, the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections is conducting its first 40-hour mental health officer certification course. It's aimed at training officers to better handle a situation where a person is experiencing a mental health crisis.Â
The jail has seen an increase in inmates coming in with mental health and substance abuse issues. The hope is that the course teaches corrections officers how to identify mental illness and how to respond through communication and de-escalation skills.
"Similar to how people can have a crisis in the community, people can also be in crisis in the jail, and oftentimes even more so because being incarcerated is a stressful and traumatic experience for many people, so our goal is to have officers to be able to learn how to respond to those situations," Dr. Mariya Leyderman, chief psychologist at LMDC, said.Â
Officers are also working closely with the jail's mental health department to make sure people housed there get the mental health support they need.Â
The jail is starting by training corrections officers, but the goal is for the entire staff to receive the mental health training.
Related Stories:
- Louisville Metro Corrections hosts mental health awareness classes for other first responders
- Lawsuit: Louisville man in 'distress' talked about suicide before killing himself in isolated jail cell
- Louisville's jail adds 11 new officers as it tries to fill worker shortage
- Louisville Metro Corrections using new model to create safer environment
- Lawsuit: Louisville woman left in jail room unchecked for hours without water, toilet before killing herself
- Family files federal lawsuit after Louisville Metro Corrections inmate dies by suicide
Copyright 2024 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
