MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) — Shelby County Commissioners have approved a $22 million investment to build a new mental health care facility aimed at providing critical support to inmates and reducing recidivism. The facility is set to open in 2026 and is designed to address the mental health needs of inmates to help prevent future offenses.
Jhamel Ivory, who has experienced multiple incarcerations at the Shelby County Jail, is currently receiving support through an ankle bracelet and therapy. Ivory believes that earlier access to mental health services could have altered his path and potentially helped many others in similar situations. “If I know I need help, I know it’s at least 1,000 who need the same,” Ivory remarked. “If most of us got the help that we needed before the crime was committed, it’s a 50/50 chance that you’d have half of the inmates now getting help compared to getting locked up.”
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris highlighted that approximately two-thirds of inmates at the jail have or have had a mental health diagnosis, which significantly contributes to the high rates of re-incarceration. “There’s a lot of folks who need access to greater mental health care,” Mayor Harris said. “If we’re going to stop that recidivism rate, that second crime rate, then we’re going to have to do something while these folks are housed and with us.”
The new facility, named the Mental Health Safety and Justice Center, will be built on a lot adjacent to the Shelby County Correctional Center on Mullins Station Road. Once completed, it will offer 60 beds and provide tailored mental health treatment through local providers in programs lasting between two and four weeks.
Mayor Harris expressed optimism about the project’s potential impact. “It may look like an empty field right now, but really this is a field of dreams, to use a cliché, because what’ll happen here is going to transform and change lives we hope,” he said.
Related topics:
