El Paso County sheriff and jail behavioral health staff give council detailed update on mental‑health, homelessness and reentry services

El Paso County Sheriff Joe Roybal and Laura Reidner, behavioral health manager for the El Paso County Jail, briefed the Colorado Springs City Council on the jail’s mental‑health caseload, homelessness among incarcerated people and programs intended to support treatment and reentry.

Roybal told the council the county jail houses mostly local residents and that “when the citizens of the jail of Colorado Springs, in El Paso County come into the jail, they leave healthier than when they arrived.” The presentation summarized staff‑collected statistics, treatment practices and partnerships intended to reduce harm on release.

The data staff presented emphasized high self‑reported prevalence of behavioral‑health needs. Reidner said about 60% of the jail population self‑report having a mental illness; roughly 20% of that group meet the jail’s definition of “seriously mentally ill,” including diagnoses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and PTSD with psychosis. She also reported that about 25–26% of people in custody reported being homeless and that 37% were receiving psychotropic medications while jailed. Reidner noted those figures come from intake self‑reporting and that self‑reported data have reliability limitations.

Sheriff Roybal and Reidner described clinical and operational practices used inside the jail. Reidner said the jail provides a 14‑day supply of prescribed psychotropic medication at release (she noted the jail provides more than the seven days the facility’s stated ECA standard requires) and that staff attempt to arrange pharmacy access after release; she said a small share—about 2% in the most recent month cited—actually picked up those medications after release. The jail does not force medication on inmates, Reidner said: “The jail does not have a pathway to force medications on individuals.”

The jail runs a crisis response unit called TRUST (Therapeutic Response Unit and Stabilization Team), which Reidner said is unique to El Paso County Jail. She reported 1,205 crisis‑response calls in February 2024 and said the program deescalated about 87% of those incidents. Sheriff Roybal added the approach reduces use‑of‑force incidents and protects both staff and incarcerated people.

Staff also described substance‑use treatment and reentry supports. Reidner said 88% of the current jail population reported using drugs or alcohol at least weekly. The jail provides medication‑assisted treatment (MAT); staff reported using the buprenorphine injection SUBLOCADE for people who consent, and said 20 individuals were on that injection at the time of the briefing. Reidner said the jail provided 808 doses of naloxone (Narcan) on release in February 2024 to people who reported opiate use or who requested it for someone they would be living with. She also said the jail hired a second discharge planner and that, in 2024, more than 3,000 people received a discharge plan intended to connect them with housing, mental‑health, substance‑use and other community resources.

Council members pressed for context and follow‑up information. Councilmember Donaldson asked whether the jail’s 60% mental‑illness figure is comparable to the general population; Reidner said she did not have local general‑population comparisons but that jails typically report mental‑health prevalences in a range she described as about 45%–65%. Councilmember Henshaw asked whether the 25–26% who report homelessness are in custody on camping or related charges; Sheriff Roybal and Reidner said the reasons vary and include high‑level felony charges as well as low‑level municipal offenses such as camping, trespass and indecent exposure. Reidner said the jail is collecting more detailed data on charge types and expects to report them later.

Roybal and Reidner emphasized partnerships outside the jail. The jail’s discharge planners coordinate with the Colorado Springs Fire Department’s outreach and with public‑health and community providers; staff use video and in‑person meetings to arrange warm handoffs where possible. Reidner said the jail’s ROAC opioid‑commission grant helped expand individual substance‑use treatment and pay for MAT; she said those funds and program changes aim to reduce post‑release overdose risk, but that recidivism and long‑term outcomes for the SUBLOCADE recipients are still being tracked and were “not specified” at the briefing.

Council members thanked sheriff’s office staff for the presentation and for the work inside the jail. The briefing did not include a formal council vote or direction; staff said they are collecting more detailed charge‑type and outcome data for future reports.