The Long Wait for Psychiatric Treatment for Missourians Behind Bars | Nine PBS Reports
Hundreds of individuals have been found incompetent to stand trial in Missouri and require court-ordered mental health treatment. Due to the lack of capacity in the state for that treatment, the average wait time for those people in jail has increased to over 14 months.
There are 430 Missourians in jails waiting to be moved to state psychiatric hospitals, up from around 300 at this time last year, according to reporting by the Missouri Independent. Read their full story here: https://missouriindependent.com/2025/05/23/man-dies-in-kc-jail-after-waiting-months-for-court-ordered-mental-health-treatment/
In this episode of #NinePBSReports, Producer Leah Gullet spoke with advocates, experts, the Missouri Department of Mental Health, and reporter Clara Bates from the Missouri Independent about the scope of the issue, what could be done to curb wait times, and what other states are doing to solve the problem.
You can read and follow the full investigation at https://missouriindependent.com/category/criminal-justice/.
Support for #NinePBS’s Mental Well-Being Initiative comes from Bank of America St. Louis, the Sidney Baer Jr. Foundation, and the Cigna Group Foundation. Additional community engagement support from BJC HealthCare. In partnership with Behavioral Health Response.