Monday, October 07, 2002

More than half of jailed teens may suffer mental illness (Pennsylvania)
NEPA News story - "In mental health screenings this year, 72 percent of girls and 37 percent of males said they had bouts of depression, while 32 percent of the girls and 16 percent of the boys said they had thoughts of suicide. Officials say the results of the surveys, given to more than 500 teens entering the state's 13 juvenile facilities, show the state may be ill-equipped to handle teens with mental problems."  
  

Roanoke Valley police learn how respond to people in crisis (Virginia)
Roanoke Times story on the only police department in the state to offer crisis intervention training that teaches officers how to recognize symptoms of mental illness and how to better deal with those types of calls. The story notes that "police and mental health experts say the training, which has been expanding to police departments across the county, is making a difference in how the mentally ill are treated."