Alameda County Agrees To Mental Health Reform Measures At Santa Rita Jail

DUBLIN, CA—The Alameda County Sheriff's office and prison rights attorneys have agreed on a reform program at the Santa Rita Jail, according to court documents made public last week.

Attorney Kara Janssen filed a lawsuit in 2018 against Alameda County, alleging that the county failed "to provide minimally adequate mental health care and conditions of confinement affecting individuals incarcerated within Santa Rita Jail" and that the county discriminated against inmates with psychiatric disabilities.

U.S. Magistrate Nathanael Cousins, a judge with the Northern District of California, is scheduled to hear the motion for approval September 22. According to court documents, all policies and procedures would have to be developed within six months of when the agreement is approved.

The agreement would put the county under court oversight for six years.

Measures that both parties agreed to include:

• Maintaining "sufficient" mental health staff at the jail and ensuring "appropriate access" to therapy and behavioral health services in the jail
• Providing more opportunities and recreation time for inmates who have serious mental illnesses, and restructure how these inmates are housed
• Updating the jail's use of force policy
• Seeking ways to more efficiently investigate and respond to inmate grievances

As Berkeleyside reports, the Department of Justice is still looking into civil rights violations across Alameda County, and a separate lawsuit involving John George Psychiatric Hospital is pending in federal court.