We have seen the rise of mental illness in our community. No longer is it the same face on the street corner here and there, but now we are seeing people struggling left and right, on nearly every corner we turn.
Prior to working for Chelan County, I worked in community mental health. I provided a service to our most severely mentally ill clients in Chelan and Douglas counties. As a registered nurse, I did everything from search for our clients to ensure that they received their antipsychotic injections to coach them on how to use deodorant.
With the pandemic, this level of care was taken away from the people who needed it the most. Mental health care has been offered over the phone – at best – in a time when people are really struggling. When the pandemic hit, it felt like everything stopped in the community.
What didn’t stop was the consistent flow of this population coming through our doors here at the Chelan County Regional Justice Center.
When people are arrested who are suffering from a mental illness, jail is not the place for them. We cannot force incarcerated adults to take medication. We cannot make them eat or drink or even shower. The severely mentally ill, when they are booked in jail, will continue to suffer until the correct help can step in. And this can take months.
Let me give you an example. We had a woman who was booked in our facility on July 26. She was severely mentally ill and not from our area. We called the Designated Crisis Responder because the woman was psychotic. She was furloughed to an inpatient facility on July 29 and then returned to our jail on Aug. 9. She had improved but continued to struggle with her symptoms.
On Sept. 8, a report returned from Eastern State Hospital stated the woman was incompetent for trial, and the court ordered her to Eastern for 45 days of restoration. She did not leave our facility until Dec. 2 because Eastern was behind in its cases and short staffed. (In fact, she didn’t go to Eastern on Dec. 2, she left for a secondary treatment facility.) That is 130 days total that she was in the Chelan County jail, and 86 days since the order was placed in the court for her to have restoration.
Sadly, this is not a rarity in our facility any more.
Every Wednesday administration, medical, classification, mental health and a case manager from the Catholic Charities diversion team walk through our facility, checking on our mentally ill incarcerated adults. Our list of people to check on used to average five to eight people. The Wednesday walk through would take 20 to 30 minutes.
Recently, there were 13 people on our list and it took us over an hour to see everyone. And, truthfully, there could have been more of the incarcerated on our list to see that day. This is our new average. This is our new reality that we are facing. Our population that we are serving is really sick and it’s daily that we see people booked in who are suffering from their mental illness.
At the jail, there are only two people in our mental health department. With so many people arriving who need this high level of help, it is a struggle for us. We recognize that it’s not only a struggle for us in here but also out in our community. The resources that were once available are simply not there or are offered in a lesser capacity. The ripple effect is long and wide and it’s hurting the people who need the help the most.
Sara Eggers is a registered nurse and mental health professional. She has worked for Chelan County for six years.
Last Updated: 02/01/2022 11:31 AM
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The information contained on this site is provided as a courtesy of the Chelan County. Where it exists, the "Index.txt" will contain a brief explanation of files contained in this folder
Chelan County makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on its web site. However, due to the possibility of transmission errors, HTML browser capabilities, changes made since the last update to the site, etc., neither Chelan County, nor any agency, officer or employee of Chelan County warrants the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published by this system and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at his or her own risk.
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The information contained on this site is provided as a courtesy of the Chelan County. Where it exists, the "Index.txt" will contain a brief explanation of files contained in this folder
Chelan County makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on its web site. However, due to the possibility of transmission errors, HTML browser capabilities, changes made since the last update to the site, etc., neither Chelan County, nor any agency, officer or employee of Chelan County warrants the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published by this system and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at his or her own risk.
PLEASE NOTE: FTP browsing is no longer supported on the latest browsers, please refer below to acccess our FTP content.
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By clicking continue, you confirm that you have read, understood and agreed to this disclaimer.
The information contained on this site is provided as a courtesy of the Chelan County. Where it exists, the "Index.txt" will contain a brief explanation of files contained in this folder
Chelan County makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on its web site. However, due to the possibility of transmission errors, HTML browser capabilities, changes made since the last update to the site, etc., neither Chelan County, nor any agency, officer or employee of Chelan County warrants the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published by this system and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at his or her own risk.
By clicking continue, you confirm that you have read, understood and agreed to this disclaimer.
The information contained on this site is provided as a courtesy of the Chelan County. Where it exists, the "Index.txt" will contain a brief explanation of files contained in this folder
Chelan County makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on its web site. However, due to the possibility of transmission errors, HTML browser capabilities, changes made since the last update to the site, etc., neither Chelan County, nor any agency, officer or employee of Chelan County warrants the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published by this system and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at his or her own risk.
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Assessor's Office Community Meeting: Leavenworth and Lake Wenatchee
Posted by: Chelan County Assessor
Chelan County Assessor Wes Cornelius invites property owners and all interested parties to attend one of four community meetings scheduled this spring throughout the county.