Sheriff's office reports early success with jail "bridge" mental-health pilot, cites 82% success rate

The Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office on Sept. 10 briefed the Board of County Commissioners on a jail-bridge pilot that funnels treatment and reentry services to people in custody who have mental-health needs.

Chief Deputy Michael Hazely told the commission the program builds on the county's existing mental-health court and expands services to those who do not qualify for that court. "We've had an 82 percent success rate," Hazely said, citing outcomes from the expanded effort and the mental-health court cohort. Hazely credited partners including Southeast Florida Behavioral Network, New Horizons and RightLife for providing in-jail assessments, pre-release planning and post-release follow-up.

Lieutenant John Roden described the program flow: screening at intake, referral to New Horizons for in-custody planning, on-site RightLife case-management support, and 90-day tracking after release. Roden said New Horizons provided 10 hours per week for in-jail services and, in early numbers from roughly June 1 through mid-August, "there was 53 that have been dealt with by New Horizons. Out of that 53, 15 have been released," and staff had not recorded returns during the short follow-up window.

Commissioners pressed staff on cost and savings. Hazely said the three-month valuation includes about $28,000 in estimated avoided housing costs from people who did not return to custody and roughly $41,000 in medication value secured through partner arrangements. Commissioners and the sheriff's office said the pilot was funded with opioid-settlement dollars for the initial period so it did not draw on general tax revenue.

The board applauded the early results and emphasized continued monitoring and reporting. The sheriff's office said it would bring additional data and possible requests for extended tracking or funding as the program matures.