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.
Josh's Latest Articles
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.
‘I didn’t want something bad to happen’
In New York, a man was shot by police during a mental health crisis after his father called 311. And earlier this month, Spotlight PA took a deep dive into the competency review process in Pennsylvania after learning about a woman trapped in the incompetent system.
High percentage of arrests involve both mental illness, substance use
A new study from Pew Charitable Trusts finds that one in nine arrests are of people with both mental illness and addiction. We also explore the story of Anthony Gay, who lives with serious mental illness and was originally sentenced to seven years in prison, but ended up with 97 years added to his sentence.
One in Nine Arrests Are of People with Both Mental Illness and Addiction, New Study Finds
Some 7.5 million people were arrested in the U.S. in 2020, and more than 10 million people were arrested each year in the 2010s. Now a new study looking at three of those years, 2017 to 2019, finds that one in nine of all arrests was of a person grappling with both a mental health and substance use disorder.
A Healed Black Man Works to Heal Others
During his six decades on the planet, Douglas Reed has worn many uniforms. He spent two decades in Army fatigues, then did a tour in federal prisons as a corrections officer. Nowadays he tours the U.S. talking about his mental health journey. MindSite News Reporter Josh McGhee spoke with him about his path.
Chicago Experiments with Crisis Response Units, Grapples With Dilemma: Include Police or Not
Chicago has been rolling out a pilot program testing alternative ways to respond to mental health-related 911 calls. The program is meeting with success, but handles only a fraction of those calls. The effort has kicked off a debate about the role of police.
John Fetterman, JB Pritzker, Daniel Thatcher among Candidates of Both Parties Pledging to Boost Mental Health Policies
More than 330 elected officials and political candidates have pledged to make mental health a priority in their platform just weeks before the midterm elections.
Colorado Senate Candidates Michael Bennett, Joe O’Dea to Take Part in Mental Health Forum Cosponsored by MindSite News
Mental health is becoming a political issue – and that’s a good thing. On Tuesday, Oct. 18, Colorado U.S. Senate candidates Michael Bennett and Joe O’Dea will discuss mental health issues in a campaign forum.