Tuscaloosa County Jail Gets Funding To Expand Psychiatric Services

TUSCALOOSA, AL — The Tuscaloosa County Commission on Wednesday approved a $150,000 contract extension that will expand psychiatric services at the Tuscaloosa County Jail.

Click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter and breaking news alerts.

Psychiatric services for the jail are provided by Capstone Health Services and will now expand from having an on-site doctor one day a week to two days a week, effectively doubling the service, in addition to being on-call 24/7.

"We have got to totally change, that need is growing every day," Probate Judge Rob Robertson said on the pivot toward behavior health at the jail. "It's going to affect the jail, it's a fact of life so we're trying to do what we can do with the jail. ... there's just a lot of need out there."

Sheriff Ron Abernathy explained that 30-35% of Tuscaloosa County Jail inmates — roughly 200 — are on some kind of psychotropic drug. These inmates, he said, require constant care and underscore the need to expand psychiatric services at the jail.

Abernathy also said his agency would commit additional funding to see the expansion of services.

What's more, this comes at a time when the county is tearing down the oldest portion of the jail to build a two-story secure behavioral health and medical unit.

Abernathy said the project was on schedule as of Wednesday.

"Everything is moving, so we should really see some things happening in the next 60 days," he said of the expansion.

Have a news tip or suggestion on how I can improve Tuscaloosa Patch? Maybe you're interested in having your business become one of the latest sponsors for Tuscaloosa Patch? Email all inquiries to me at ryan.phillips@patch.com.