New behavioral health program offered at local detention center

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) — A new behavioral health program will be offered at the Washington County, Tennessee Detention Center through a partnership with East Tennessee State University (ETSU).

In 2023, a behavioral health intern inside the detention center handled 426 suicide watch assessments, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said in a release Tuesday.

“That number alone proves how much we need behavioral health services inside the Detention Center,” Sheriff Sexton said in the release. “Add to it the 217 therapy sessions and 269 sick calls and you can definitely see the need we’ve known has been here all along.”

Funding for the trial run with the intern, a psychology doctoral student at ETSU, was provided under a grant ETSU’s Institute for Integrated Behavioral Health already had.

The Washington County, Tennessee Sheriff’s Office received approval from the county commission in February 2024 to use more than $500,000 of Restricted Opioid Settlement funds to hire behavioral health professionals.

Deputies will work alongside a psychiatric nurse practitioner and a social worker to support the new program inside the detention center.

The program and Behavioral Health office will focus on evaluating and assisting inmates with mental health care, the sheriff’s office stated. The social worker in the office will help inmates get the services they need once they leave the detention center.

Sexton thanked ETSU and the county commission for recognizing the issue, saying drug addiction and mental health issues often accompany one another.

“Many times, we have groups that want to help with the mental and addiction issues inside the jail, but they’re hesitant to actually step into the jail environment,” Sexton said in the release. “We are fortunate that this intern from ETSU fit in well with our current healthcare infrastructure and wasn’t skittish about treating inmates. Everyone surrounding this first step was extremely responsive and for that we are thankful.”

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