ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo.—Renovations to the Saint Charles County Jail for specialized units, including 45 more beds, are nearly complete.
What was once storage and kitchen space is now the substance abuse and mental health units, the latter will begin housing detainees this month.
“I’m super excited; I’m excited about what’s coming for these individuals getting the help that they need because it is very important,” said Robin Edwards, Interim director, St. Charles County Department of Corrections.
These two units will be critical for detainees seeking freedom from cycles of substance abuse, adds Edwards.
“This can really make or break someone and I think with that being said, this will make these individuals here who really, really need this: help become strong and a better person.”
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a lot of community agencies to shut down, per Edwards. Consequentially, many individuals who struggle with mental health and related diseases, including substance abuse, were without treatment.
“They’re not stabilized out in the community because obviously they’re not taking their meds. They don’t have any support.”
While detained, jail staff will assure the people are provided care that may otherwise not be available.
“So usually what happens when these individuals come into our facility: they are not stabilized. They’re off their meds,” said Edwards. “We get them stabilized, we get them the correct treatment, we get them in front of the right people, whether it’s peers, counselors, our treatment team—As we continue to work with them, they start to trust us.”
After release, the jail’s work isn’t over. Peer support specialists will follow up with recently released detainees to assure they have access to their medications and attend treatment appointments.
The substance abuse unit looks to open next month but detainees will move into the mental health unit this month.
“We think that if we can do this, we can keep those deaths by overdose numbers to continue to go down,” said Steve Ehlmann, County Executive of St. Charles County. “I didn’t realize how bad it was until I became a judge and the three years I was a judge, I learned more than I ever wanted to know about the relationship between drugs and crime.”
Ehlmann mentioned he felt helpless as a judge and opportunities to improve crime prevention played greatly in his return to the executive branch.
“I want to try to do something before those people end up in front of a judge looking at a seven to 70 prison term. If we can get them going straight and keep them out of that cycle, that’s what we’re going to do.”
The $50 million projects were paid through ARPA funds, bond funds and the opioid settlement.