314 Missourians in jail waiting for mental health treatment, local counties experience delays

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Across Missouri, 314 people are in jails awaiting treatment from the Department of Mental Health.

These people have been deemed incompetent to go to trial, but have not been admitted into the department to receive treatment. In addition, there 268 people also waiting for evaluations to determine if they are competent to stand trial. There were 297 people awaiting evaluations in November.

Jeanette Simmons -- Deputy Director for the Division of Behavioral Health with the Missouri Department of Mental Health -- said the long wait times are due to more people needing the services. This makes keeping up with the growing number of individuals needing the service difficult for the staff.

"It's probably not going to get better anytime soon because of the continued influx of these orders and evaluations being requested. It's (demand) going to continue to grow," Simmons said. "We don't have sufficient capacity within the facility we have in existence."

Boone County Prosecutor Roger Johnson said he believes this is a growing issue for those in the Boone County Jail.

"The system that's in place that's supposed to work, that's supposed to provide service for them just isn't working," Johnson said.

According to Capt. Jenny Atwell, of the Boone County Sheriff's Office, there are currently 13 people at the Boone County Jail who have been deemed incompetent and are waiting for treatment from the DMH. Of those 13 people, Atwell said the longest wait for an inmate has been Aug. 7, 2023, and has been in custody since July 2022.

Eight people are still waiting for an evaluation at the jail, according to Atwell.

Cole County Sheriff John Wheeler said there are two inmates at the jail that have been evaluated and are waiting for treatment. One person has been waiting since Dec. 7 and the other, since Sept. 7.

In addition, there are two people at the Cole County jail waiting for an evaluation. One person has been waiting since Nov. 9, 2023 and the other, since Feb. 28 2024, Wheeler said.

On Thursday, a judge pushed back a court date for Quatavia Givens, a woman accused of murdering a toddler, in 2018 who was deemed incompetent on Aug. 14 2023, but hasn't received treatment.

Givens' attorney filed an objection on Wednesday, stating Givens has not been treated yet and is still in custody at the jail. The motion claims that when Givens was ordered to be committed, she was No. 72 on the wait list. The motion claims that on Wednesday, she was No. 36 on the waiting list.

The next court date is 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 13. A trial setting was initially set on Oct. 3 for Tuesday, March 12.

Johnson said Missouri law states that a person is supposed to be evaluated within 60 days of being in custody. He said some people in Boone County can sometimes wait for up to six months, which doesn't allow cases to move forward.

"For somebody who's suffering from serious mental health issues and needs those additional services often times we're waiting six months," Johnson said. "We just had a case where we've been fighting with the department of mental health for months and months."

Simmons said the department is working on plans to improve the issue. Those include a forensic team who treats inmates within jails, as well as another hospital in Kansas City that is in the works.

However, Simmons said she believes the best solution to the problem is getting people help before they enter the justice system. Johnson said he hopes the issue is resolved soon, as hospitals and jails are not equipped to give people in these situations the proper care.

"Some of these people have really serious needs, and needs that can't really even be met at the University Hospital," Johnson said.