As part of our HSC HUD point-in-time count, we learned that 130 people in jail were homeless prior to entering. It is estimated that up to 22 percent of those in the Dane County Jail are there because they are unable to pay the required bail to get out. We know from our jail consultants that about 40 percent of persons incarcerated in the county jail are on psychotropic medications for a mental health diagnosis. We know that our racial disparities in arrests and incarceration are up there with the worst in the country.

The county’s paid consultants told the County Board in June that we're “doing a great job" when it comes to incarceration and our jail population. I was shocked. Did they ask communities of color — profiled, over-policed, and disproportionately arrested — this question? Did they ask the families of persons jailed because of a crisis related to mental illness or substance abuse disorder? Did they ask homeless services providers who are struggling to find housing and supportive services for the 784 homeless singles on our HSC Priority List?