COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) – The Muscogee County Prison is expanding mental health services for inmates as part of a plan to prepare them for life after release.
The prison holds over 500 inmates, with 48 of them expected to be released back into the Columbus area within the next three years. The mental health services are intended to ensure those individuals are ready to return to society before they are released.
Muscogee County Prison Warden Herbert Walker said the prison has reached a new contract with New Horizon Behavioral Health. The services are for inmates who will be integrating back into the Muscogee County area.
“We put that contract language in there to say you are going to be available 24/7,” Walker said. “The newest thing is virtual. We can put inmates in front of the computer and can virtually converse with a mental health professional.”
Services benefit inmates during and after incarceration
New Horizon psychologist Cyndy Pattillo said the services benefit inmates now and after they are released.
“We know that they will be more stable on their medications, they will get along better inside the prison and they’ll do better about following the rules, they cope better with the environment so yeah, it makes a difference,” Pattillo said.
Walker said the prison has worked to make resources available to inmates.
“We’ve tried to make sure that everyone knows there are resources out there that you can utilize if you feel yourself going through some type of crisis,” he said.
Walker said the contract does not have an overall cost as each doctor has their own price for a visit. He said there was no better price for the amount of services New Horizon provides.
“We take mental health very seriously,” Walker said. “The offenders that we have here have access to mental health, the staff we have here on site, we make sure they take anything of that nature seriously and report it all the way up the chain.”
Walker said many of the inmates are preparing to be released and have anxiety for a variety of reasons. Having mental health professionals on standby makes a big difference, he said.
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