The grant will go toward non-maximum security beds. Those needing treatment in a maximum security setting must go to the state hospital, Garnett said.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Goss-CompetencyRestorationGrant-02.jpg\")
The exterior of the Perimeter Behavioral Hospital on July 2, 2025 in Arlington. (Mary Abby Goss | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n
Although the grant will do some good, more funding is needed to treat individuals with mental illnesses so they do not enter the criminal justice system in the first place, said Katherine Godby, co-founder and board chair of the Justice Network of Tarrant County.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the micro level, yes, incarcerated persons may indeed move forward, beyond the mental illness,\u201d Godby said. \u201cOn the macro level, MHMR, the county, and the Tarrant County jail are refusing to provide the help that people living with a mental illness actually need. How to prevent the jail from being a \u2018warehouse\u2019 for people with a mental illness \u2014 that\u2019s the question that needs to be addressed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Garnett said individuals with mental illnesses do need more support, but competency restoration still has an important role.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200b\u200bWe agree there should be increased community resources to assist people, but that is not an alternative to competency restoration,\u201d Garnett said. \u201cIt is an adjunct to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Tarrant County jail has faced scrutiny for its treatment of those with mental illnesses and disabilities.<\/p>\n
Georgia Kay Baldwin died in the Tarrant County jail in 2021 while awaiting competency restoration treatment. Baldwin\u2019s death resulted in a lawsuit, in which her family alleged she was not cared for properly while in custody.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite having access to water in her cell, Baldwin is believed to have died from an extremely high sodium level in her body, which typically results from dehydration.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that a jail has an obligation to assure that severely mentally ill people are eating and drinking,\u201d attorney Dean Malone, who represented Baldwin\u2019s family, told KERA News<\/a>.<\/p>\n Malone also said incarceration was not the right outcome for Baldwin given her severe mental illness.<\/p>\n The lawsuit was later settled after the county offered Baldwin\u2019s family $750,000.<\/p>\n Although the treatment will not take place at a state hospital, those sent to Perimeter must still receive the same quality of treatment as those in state facilities.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s got to be equal,\u201d Garnett said. \u201cThat\u2019s part of our civil rights protections, that everybody gets the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n McKinnon Rice is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at mckinnon.rice@fortworthreport.org.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n Republish This Story<\/p>\n
![\"Creative](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1750614464_36_cc-by-nd-4.0.png\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\n