System Failure: a California Man’s Two-Decade Struggle to Get the Right Care
A California mother has worked for decades to get the right care for her mentally ill son. It hasn't worked. The podcast Brain Stories tells theirs.
Josh's Latest Articles
The ICE Effect: Immigrants, Already Traumatized, Face Neglect in New York Jail
MindSite News spoke to a civil rights attorney about the harsh conditions for immigrants held at a New York jail.
Mentally ill and starving to death in American jails
An investigation has documented dozens of cases where people with severe mental illness, many of whom were jailed during a crisis, have starved or died from neglect in U.S. county jails.
Shadow Arrests: When a Call for Help Turns Into Involuntary Commitment
Thousands in crisis are being involuntarily hospitalized despite little evidence of effectiveness.
Gulf War Vet Horrified by Prison’s Mental Health Crisis
In a first person essay, Derek Carter narrates his time volunteering as a peer counselor at his former South Carolina prison.
Coming Medicaid Cuts Spell Disaster for People Needing Addiction Services, Especially Coming Out of Jail
Medicaid cuts being advanced by the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans could gut addiction services.
The Grieving Children Left Behind By Gun Violence
New Orleans is aiming to become a model in helping children who have lost parents to gun violence by building an "ecosystem" of mental health support.
Is Chicago’s Mental Health Crisis Response Team Ready to Go Copless?
A new evaluation of Chicago’s alternative crisis response team (CARE) finds a low threat of violence and offers insights other cities may find useful.
A New Documentary Explores the Truth Behind the Infamous Stanford Prison Experiment
We interview the new film's director and one of its participants. We also have a reported essay on what it’s like for people with Attention Deficit Disorder in real prisons.
988 Crisis Line Rolls out Georouting Technology, Giving Crisis Counselors a Better Idea of Caller’s Location
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline will deploy technology that routes calls based on their proximity to cell phone towers, preventing confusion and delays, the Biden administration announced.
A Grieving Family Still Awaits Justice
One year after Abnerd Joseph's killing, his family wants to know: Why has the man who shot him not been charged?
That Crisis of Mentally Ill People Languishing in Jail? It’s Even Worse Than We Thought
The number of mentally ill people held in jails for weeks or months awaiting competency hearings is rising. Experts call it a crisis.
One Year Later: Family Demands Answers for Educator Shot to Death During Mental Health Crisis
One year after being shot in his own building during a mental health crisis, the family of Abnerd Joseph still waits for answers: Why has the man who shot him not been charged?
Far Too Many of You Dying
A Chicago assistant principal has a mental health crisis in his apartment building and ends up dead. And what's going on with Riverside County Jail in California?
A Beloved Chicago Educator Was Shot to Death in the Midst of a Mental Health Crisis. Why Has No One Been Charged?
Something was going on with Abnerd Joseph, a young, Black assistant principal in Chicago. He was pacing the hallways of his downtown apartment building in his bathrobe and acting strange. Some of his neighbors called 911. Another took matters into his own hands.
A West Side Story: How to Traumatize a Community
For residents of Police Beat 1122 on Chicago's West Side – and for all who watched on TV or social media – the killing of Dexter Reed last month after he was stopped for an alleged seatbelt violation was a vivid reminder: Such violence could happen to them at any time.
Michael Johnson Spent 3 Years in Solitary and Was About to Give Up on Life. Then He Got a Letter from his Daughter
He took his case, arguing that extended solitary confinement was cruel and unusual, all the way to the Supreme Court – and lost. Today he's out of prison working to rebuild his life.
The Last Days of Little Eddie
The banging and groans from the cell above had been going on for days. Kory McClary didn't know the name of the man, but his distress was unmistakable. McClary heard him banging on his toilet and his bunk for days with only small breaks in between. He heard him battling guards who entered the cell. He heard him screaming in pain.
Supreme Court: Nothing Cruel or Unusual About 3 Years of Isolation
The Supreme Court refused to hear a case from an Illinois man whose mental illness was exacerbated by being locked in a windowless cell virtually 24/7 for three years. Plus, overdose deaths among people incarcerated in Louisiana prisons are on the rise and people charged with no crime are jailed in Mississippi awaiting mental health evaluations.
Inside the Fateful Encounters Series
Two reporters from the Medill Investigative Lab-Chicago take us behind the scenes on their deeply reported stories. One looked at the deadly shootings by New Hampshire police of people in mental health crisis. The other looked at the intense stress that 911 call-takers are under.
A hot tip brings our reporter to Florida
A Sunshine State woman who thought she had agreed to a voluntary mental exam suddenly found a police car outside her door,. Oklahoma is under fire for letting mentally ill patients incompetent to testify languish in jail. And a tragic police response to a mentally ill woman in crisis, this time in San Antonio.
Will a Legal Agreement Bring Change to LA Jails?
Can a new legal settlement really change things for people with mental illness in LA County jails? We ask an advocate who's been deeply involved. We also revisit the story of an activist who rebounded from her own burnout and now helps others reclaim their mental, physical, and spiritual health. And more.
Unpacking a ‘Watershed’ Legal Agreement to Improve Conditions for Mentally Ill People in L.A. County Jails
Advocates hail the settlement as a victory for mentally ill people and as a major step to reducing jail populations and improving conditions for those who remain.
The 988 Crisis Lines’s Growing Pains
A MindSite News Original explores the first 9 months of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
