Community

Community Based Treatment, Not Jail Replacement: A New Plan of Care for LA County

LOS ANGELES SENTINEL — Black people with mental illnesses are already overrepresented in our jails and prisons.

Published

7 years ago

February 12, 2019

By Sentinel News Service

Locked buildings, cells and sheriffs providing security – sound like a Mental Health Center? It doesn’t, because it’s not. In response to Federal investigations of the poor conditions within LA County Jails, and the increase of imprisoned people with mental illnesses which has now reached 70 percent of the jail population, Supervisors of LA County planned to vote February 12th on a new “Mental Health Jail,” formally known as the “Consolidated Correctional Treatment Facility,” instead of diverting people who shouldn’t be in jail in the first place. Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Janice Hahn have now recently moved to reject the Mental Health Jail in favor of the “Mental Health Treatment Center,” amidst public outcry of concerns for human rights violations. However, there are concerns that the previous jail construction plans will continue on, now just under a new name.

Black people with mental illnesses are already overrepresented in our jails and prisons, and are the most vulnerable to being incarcerated due to the historical legacy of racism and societal oppression in this country. Almost a third of the L.A. County jail population is Black, many having mental health disabilities which the new facility is being constructed to serve. Proposal of the new “Mira Loma” women’s jail, also to be voted on by LA Supervisors on Feb. 12th, is believed to disproportionately impact Black women as well. LA County is already known for housing the largest jail in the world, and we cannot stand for the continued warehousing of community members who deserve dignity, better solutions and real care.

We are writing this as BEAM, a collective of Black counselors, community organizers, therapists, yoga teachers and healing justice practitioners dedicated to the wellness of Black communities here in Los Angeles and across the world. As professionals, we are all too familiar with the debilitating impact jails have on the mental health of members of our communities. Jails contribute to post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidal ideation, depression and accession of the symptoms of those already living with mental illness; which can include mania; and complex trauma. Jails are not an effective way to support our communities, especially the Black communities that BEAM works with. Many entities, including the World Health Organization, agree with this statement.

If we are truly concerned about human rights and dignity, a return to the old “mental asylums,” is not the answer in 2019. Having the police, probation and corrections departments as a first point of access to mental health services only serves to further trigger our people to feel criminalized and prevents them from accessing the care that they need. In contrast to a jail, or even a large-scale locked mental health hospital, there is much research that shows that an investment in diversion programs coupled with community-based health centers, reentry services and mental health literacy can transform communities. This evidence shows that jail diversion services coordinated with community providers result in decreased time in jail and prison, fewer and later arrests, and increased global level of functioning for individuals with serious mental illness. These effective, humane, and even cost-efficient alternative solutions are easily within reach.

Supervisors, we urge you to make the right decision this Tuesday and go back to the drawing table, listen to your constituents, and utilize the vast array of organizations, leaders and researchers that are committed to doing the work to find alternative solutions that are social justice informed. The risk of the devastating generational impact on Los Angeles community members who are incarcerated and their families is too high, and we believe there is a better way forward. It’s time to create a new plan of care for LA County.

This article originally appeared in the Los Angeles Sentinel.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

Black Publishers Push for More Diabetes Awareness

Don't Miss

Young artist aims to spread peace through her paintings

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Arts and Culture

COMMENTARY: Black Music is the Sound of Black Freedom: Let Us Reclaim Both This Juneteenth

Black Music Month started when Black Music Association members Ed Wright, Kenny Gamble and his wife, journalist and radio host Dyanna Williams were able to persuade President Jimmy Carter to establish the observation on June 7, 1979.

Published

1 day ago

June 9, 2026

Oakland Post

Robert Johnson (1911-1938) is thought of as the godfather of blues music, especially Delta blues. The 29 songs recorded by him during his short life have been of massive inspiration to guitarists and musicians over the last 80 years. Public domain photo.

By Wanda Ravernell

Black Music Month and Juneteenth are inextricably linked – Black music is the sound of our freedom.

From the plaintive moans of the enslaved Africans’ ‘sorrow songs,’ to the fields of Civil War battle where Black soldiers picked up abandoned bugles, to the upright piano played in juke joints on Saturday night and churches come Sunday morning, our ancestors’ innovation in the face of want, fear, degradation, and hopelessness has yielded genres of music imitated ’round the world.

In 2000, Congress made it official. In 2009, Pres. Barack Obama changed the name to African American Music Heritage Month and in 2023, Pres. Joe Biden changed it back to Black Music Month, two years after he declared Juneteenth a national holiday, the result of a movement led by Opal Lee.

Our ancestors battle for freedom over these last 400 years and the music that allowed them expression of their humanity deserved to be honored.

But we may be losing sight of the value of their sacrifices.

‘Sing a Song Full of the Faith That the Dark past Has Taught Us…’

Along with the long-known exploitation of Black musicians whose recordings were stolen by record companies, the commercialization of Juneteenth feels like another kind of theft.

I had never heard of Juneteenth until I moved to the Bay Area from my hometown of Philadelphia. I didn’t know it was one of many freedom festivals celebrated by descendants of enslaved people in the United States.

Emancipation Day was Jan. 1 in Pennsylvania, April 16 in Wash., D.C., May 20 in Florida, and Aug. 8 in Kentucky. But Juneteenth, June 19, has the most renown, known in Texas as the ‘colored peoples’ Fourth of July.’

It was marked by parades, beauty pageants, rodeos, backyard barbecues and church picnics.

Yes, church.

The formerly enslaved began the day praying in thanks for their freedom just as they had prayed for Jubilee – the day of freedom – when they had chains on their feet and hands. They ‘testified’ about their past suffering and how they had managed to overcome.

And they sang.

Although, we will not hold it this year, Omnira Institute’s Juneteenth Ritual of Remembrance recalled this part of Juneteenth with prayers in the languages of the African captives. In the middle of the ceremony, a soloist would lead us in singing “Many Thousand Gone” while we took turns reciting portions of the Emancipation Proclamation, the news of freedom that took more than two years to reach Texas – two months after the Civil War ended.

“Many Thousand Gone” was famously recorded by Black luminary Paul Robeson in 1947:

“No more auction block for me,

No more, no more

No more auction black for me

Many thousand gone.”

Other verses refer to the ‘pint of salt’ and the ‘driver’s lash,’ the realities of enslavement that they had survived.

‘Sing a Song Full of the Hope That the Present has Brought Us’

All of the genres of African American music have at their root songs like that, the essence being, as Stevie Wonder, wrote, “the joy inside our pain.” So Black music is not just music. It is our story, our history, our very strength.

During the Civil Rights Movement, which peaked 100 years after slavery ended, the people testified that it was the freedom songs – based on spirituals – that gave them the heart to march, face attack dogs, fire hoses, beatings, and shootouts with vigilantes.

The music reminded them that power was in the people. That music, our music, can do so again. We don’t have to accept the commodification of the products of our culture.

The power of those songs is showing a resurgence across the South as we battle again for the right to self-determination through the ballot box.

Those songs are the voices of our ancestors, voices forged in their blood, their sweat, their tears, joy and, above all, faith. Those songs, those prayers live in our blood and our very breath.

This Juneteenth, let us reclaim those holy voices expressed in Black music for ourselves. It is our birthright. It can neither be bought nor sold. No more. Never again.

Wanda Ravernell is the executive director of Omnira Institute, sponsor for 18 years of the Juneteenth Ritual of Remembrance and Oakland’s 11^th Annual Black-Eyed Pea Festival, which will take place on Sept. 12.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of June 3 – 9, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 3 – 9, 2026

Published

1 day ago

June 9, 2026

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

#NNPA BlackPress

Study: Waiting Lists for Child Care Assistance Nearly Doubled

BLACKPRESS USA NEWSWIRE — “Since the expiration of tens of billions of dollars in federal child care funding in 2023 and 2024, an already fragile child care system has been pushed even closer to the brink.”
The post Study: Waiting Lists for Child Care Assistance Nearly Doubled appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

Published

2 days ago

June 8, 2026

Oakland Post

By National Women’s Law Center

The National Women’s Law Center released its annual State Child Care Assistance Policies report, finding that the number of children placed on waiting lists for federally funded child care assistance nearly doubled between 2024 and 2025 — and that number has only continued to grow.

The report serves as a key resource for state lawmakers, advocates, and policymakers by tracking state child care assistance policies and identifying where states are strengthening support for families and early educators — or falling behind.

“This deeply troubling increase in the number of children on child care waiting lists is the result of a failure to invest in this crucial sector,” said Karen Schulman, senior director of state child care policy and author of the report. “Since the expiration of tens of billions of dollars in federal child care funding in 2023 and 2024, an already fragile child care system has been pushed even closer to the brink.”

Key findings in the report related to waiting lists for child care assistance include:

• 17 states had waiting lists or a freeze on intake for child care assistance in February 2025, up from 13 states in February 2024.

• Approximately 106,700 children nationwide were added to waiting lists between February 2024 and February 2025, bringing the total to 225,500 children in February 2025 — a 90 percent increase compared to February 2024.

• The numbers climbed even further between February 2025 and summer/fall 2025, with more than 175,000 additional children added to state waiting lists in just a few months — a 78 percent increase.

• At least seven states newly began placing families on waiting lists or freezing intake, while at least 10 additional states saw their waiting lists grow, after February 2025.

The report also includes state-by-state data on key child care assistance policies, including income eligibility limits, parent copayments, provider payment rates, and eligibility policies for parents searching for work.

Click the link to learn more: Warning Signs: State Child Care Assistance Policies 2025.

The post Study: Waiting Lists for Child Care Assistance Nearly Doubled appeared first on BlackPressUSA.