jail

A grand jury looking into conditions at Multnomah County’s jails found the majority of inmates have either mental health or substance abuse issues.

Jails are a good place to intervene because 20 percent of inmates used heroin or opioids before being incarcerated.

SB 233 helps close a gap in health benefits when former prison inmates and state hospital patients return to society by asking the state to suspend rather than terminate Medicaid while such people are living in state institutions. It also ensures that prisons as well as jails save on hospital costs for inmates.