Officials announced on Tuesday that a clinical psychologist will be appointed head of Chicago’s Cook County Jail, the nation’s second-largest jail where a third of the inmates are mentally ill.
County officials said Nneka Jones Tapia will become executive director of the jail on May 26. Tapia, who has been with the sheriff’s office since 2013 and oversees mental health strategy, replaces Cara Smith, who will become chief strategy officer for Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart.
According to a spokesman, Cook County houses an average of 9,000 inmates daily, of which 25 percent to 35 percent suffer from mental illness. Jail officials said that number has grown in recent years as the number of mental health facilities fell.
Officials said Tapia is the first mental health professional to be appointed to head a large jail. Dart said Cook County is the nation’s largest single-site jail – Los Angeles County has more inmates but multiple sites.
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April 17, 2016, at RBC
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