ADAMS COUNTY, Ind. (WPTA) – Adams County Sheriff Dan Mawhorr is turning to 21Investigates after unsuccessful attempts to find help for a mentally ill inmate.
He reached out to 21Investigates reporter Julian Teekaram after seeing our previous reporting on the recent suicides at the Allen County Jail.
READ MORE: “Deadly problems” in the criminal justice system
In his view, the sheriffs do not have enough resources to care for mentally ill people in prisons.
21Investigates has written detailed reports on three inmate deaths at the Allen County Jail.
On October 13, 2023, Jonathan Ohlwine died after hanging himself in a prison shower.
In January of this year, James Shaffer died in a holding cell after wrapping a telephone cord around his neck.
Then Steven Perry died of a drug overdose in February.
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Although none of these deaths occurred in the Adams County Jail, Sheriff Mawhorr said he faced the same hurdles when caring for an Adams County inmate.
A review of her record revealed that she had been incarcerated for minor offenses. He says she spent most of her time in prison under suicide watch.
“She took her braces off, took the wire out of her mouth and tried to cut herself with it. We stopped that. She was scraping paint chips from drains and rust. She tried to scratch herself with the rust, but we stopped that. She was biting all of her nail beds and it was bleeding,” said Sheriff Mawhorr.
He says she needed special care and not a holding cell.
“My staff is young. Many of my prison guards are between 18 and 22 years old. And they have never dealt with anything like this before. They have very poor training.”
The sheriff says he tried to get the young woman into an inpatient treatment program. He called six psychiatric hospitals, five in Indiana and one in Ohio, but they all turned her away.
The sheriff hoped she would be sent to Parkview Behavioral Health (PBH). But then…
“He calls me back a little later and says, yes, she’s delusional. We’re taking her. I said OK. About half an hour later I get a call from them saying, ‘I’m sorry to tell you this, but the powers above me said no, we’re not taking her. She’s an incarcerated prisoner, send her back to prison.'”
Parkview responds
We contacted Parkview and a hospital spokesperson sent us a statement saying the inmate did not meet admission criteria.
The hospital says its admission criteria meet national standards. And there is no policy prohibiting the admission of inmates at any facility, including PBH. The hospital has admitted inmates from Adams County before.
Sheriff Mawhorr says an officer from Parkview called him after we started asking questions. Together they went over the admission criteria. And there are plans for the two to meet in person to talk about improving their partnership.
Measures from the Statehouse
21Investigates has now heard from two sheriffs who say more inmates with mental health issues are ending up behind bars. We wanted to know if Indiana lawmakers understand the urgent need for help, so we reached out to Indiana State Senator Michael Crider.
He authored a new law that creates a 24-hour suicide crisis hotline and mobile crisis teams. Crider says the goal is to keep people with mental health or substance abuse problems out of the criminal justice system.
“Often people end up in prison because they simply had nowhere else to go,” Crider said.
Crider also mentioned the other big problem.
“We don’t have enough workers to meet demand.”
Sheriff Mawhorr understands the legislative process is lengthy, but says patients aren’t the only ones who need a solution.
“If these people get the help they need, they won’t be a burden on society. They won’t go around in public doing strange things and causing chaos. Because they will be healthy,” Mawhorr said.
Senator Crider says studies are currently being conducted in Indiana to determine why there are not enough mental health professionals. Crider believes understanding the shortage is an important step in solving this complex problem.
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