CM Narcisse on correctional health population and mental health needs
Narcisse asks about incarcerated individuals served and common mental health issues. Yang reports a 15% increase in custody population from 6,000 to over 7,000, with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders most common among seriously mentally ill patients. Wait times are 24-72 hours depending on priority.
How many incarcerated individuals received services in 2026?
Has the number of the people served increased or decreased in recent years?
What are the most common mental health issues incarcerated people deal with?
Yeah, excuse me, the number of patients that we have on any given day has definitely increased steadily and dramatically since COVID, which is where we hit the lowest number.
I think just in the last year, it increased about 15% in terms of the number of people in custody from 6,000 to over 7,000.
And the most common...
Reasons why people in the mental health service come to us are really adjustment disorders.
The most common diagnosis among serious mentally ill patients is schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders.
How long is the wait time for incarcerated individuals to access mental health care services?
Yeah, we have at least two levels of priority.
One is stat immediate, which is within 24 hours, and the other is priority, which is within 72 hours of any referral.
We will see that patient and rely on the Department of Correction to bring that patient to us or to connect us in some other way.
On an ongoing follow-up basis for patients who are in our therapeutic housing.
areas we see they're seen on a weekly basis we had been joined online with P Sanchez Purina Sanchez since we have two Sanchez
sorry because she's been waiting okay
How much of correctional health services budget is allocated to families on Rackers Island?
And how does spending differ across other correctional facilities?
I'm sorry, could you repeat the first part?
The first part is families, but we wouldn't take care of families, but you,
Your social workers do meet with family members.
Our social workers and all our staff will meet with family members regarding their loved one in jail under our care.
And our budget is spread out over all facilities.
We're always moving staff around to wherever we need.
So you cannot be specific because you're something that you don't.
We don't by jail.
Okay, gotcha.
Does the current funding level at the, it's a decorated support continuing for the care for the individual in reentry of our community?
Certainly for the reentry work that we do day one on admission to jail and for what we provide on Rikers Island and really appreciate the making us whole this time.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Like you said, the funding is the same complexity.
Correct.
Okay.
As the city plans for the transition to more base jails, how do you anticipate correctional health services funding needs will change in the future fiscal years?
Can't really predict that far ahead in years, but we will go wherever our patients are.
And the prediction at that point in time, and a big focus on the part of the city under this administration, is to see how people can be safely not in jail.
I'm in agreement.
People should not be.
jail, especially those that don't need to be in jail.
And I think Dr.
Katz has been talking about it, and I'm totally in agreement.
I was hearing you when you were talking about it with my colleagues.