Are we substituting jails for insane asylums in America?
Jackie Buffington-Vollum is a UMD Sociology professor who says a conservative estimate of the rate of serious mental illness in the jails is 16%, compared to 1-3% in the general population.
Buffington-Vollum is also a mental health CIT trainer (Crisis Intervention Team) and she just finished the first training for the Duluth Police Department.
Already, she says, officers are letting her know it's made a positive difference.
The Mental Health Week on KUMD was made possible in part by the Human Development Center, Miller-Dwan Foundation and the St. Luke’s Foundation.