County law enforcement officials are asking Iowa lawmakers to create half a dozen regional “triage” centers for people who are having a mental health or addiction crisis. Susan Cameron Daemen is the lobbyist for the Iowa State Sheriffs’ and Deputies’ Association.

 

Cameron Daemen says addressing the “crisis” in Iowa’s mental health care system is the association’s “highest priority” for the 2018 legislative session.

 

The State Sheriffs’ and Deputies’ Association is calling for more community-based treatment programs as well as more options for Iowans who need in-patient treatment for a mental illness. According to state officials, at least a third of Iowa prison inmates are suffering from a severe mental illness. Cameron Daemen says improving the state’s mental health care system and getting the mentally ill appropriate care before they commit a crime is “less costly to the taxpayers.”