Our area of interest for this semester's design project is the Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago. Within this community resides the Cook County Correctional Facility. This is a facility that has gotten a lot of negative attention in recent years due to the amount of individuals within it as well as the conditions that these individuals possess. In fact, many articles have gone out referring to the jail as the U.S's largest mental health facility due to the emense number of individuals with mental health illnesses. As design students we are looking at ways that we can understand the issues within the city of Chicago as a whole as well as the issues that are plaguing our designed scope area. Is there a way that we can re-imagine the healthcare system to help change the image of the Cook County Jail as well as provide help to the individuals that don't really belong there?
It isn't a shock to say that the west side of Chicago is experiencing an issue with crime, but the real facts are that a lot of these crimes are due to the amount of mentally ill individuals who lack access to proper healthcare, services, and homes. Most of the individuals that find themselves in the jail are actually in there for petty crimes. Its a sad situation, but most of the individuals look at these petty crimes as a way to have shelter for the night and a safe place to sleep. This leaves the inside of the correctional facility packed to the brim with people waiting for a hearing. There are a lot of individuals that pass through the system and even more that are reoccurring visitors. So what can the city of Chicago do to help this growing mentally ill population?
The deputy director of the facility is aware of these issues and is actually much more than your regular deputy. She is also a a physiol
ogist and determined to find a way to decrease the amount of mentally ill individuals who are sent to the facility under crime violations. In one interview that was done at the facility, three out of the four individuals registered were registered as mentally ill. In the article/interview (link below) the deputy director mentions just a few of the ways that the mentally ill cope with their illnesses, which mostly has them turning to drugs and alcohol in order to tame the side effects of their mental condition. When they are found with these drugs they are often taken straight to the jail, who can't deny them, and that is where they sit and wait causing a mass overcrowding of the entire system.
The worst part... as these individuals sit in the jail
, they start to loose grip with the reality that awaits them outside. Most of the individuals that do have housing and jobs lose them one admitted because they can't pay rent or come into work. Others are regulars who are administered through the system on a regular basis that never really helps them get back on track in society.
So what is they system doing currently to help this cause. Sheriff Tom Dart also is aware of the issue confronting the city of Chicago. He is now working with healthcare sites, like Mt. Sinai, all over the area to issue in programs that help these individuals find providers and stick to a routine of visiting with them, being diagnosed, and keeping up with their medication. The jail is also working on rebuilding the ideas of a family unit and social skills since most of their inmates come from little to no family unit at all. It seems like a small step, but in the city this could really be a large factor in decreasing the amount of mentally ill individuals who are ushered through the jails doors every day.
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