Brain Shrink, Think.

Five years ago I interned at a correctional facility as a young mental health therapist in New York. I wrote a blog post about my experience during that internship. If you want to check that out before reading this, check it out in the link below. "Experiences in the Correctional facility"  Since then, I have worked with individuals involved in the criminal justice system from children to adults. Recently, I have been working in a county jail for the last 2 years. Jail is not prison. It is a purgatory. People in jail are innocent until proven guilty. It's hard to keep track of that day by day. I have seen more about the process of mass incarceration. I have heard and sat with thousands of people at this point. The lives of these individuals are complex. Why they end up in these situations are often more complex. But the way we as society view them --- down to the coloring scheme of their jump suits are simple. Good or Bad. Orange and Black. Before I got involved...

As of this writing, I do not know of a therapist who actively accepts Medicaid insurance within the Greater - Charlotte region. The mental health care system in North Carolina within the last few years has undergone significant changes   (North Carolina Health News) . How services are provided to consumers has been changing as well as the distribution of those services. North Carolina is attempting to move more towards community-based care in lieu of institutions. However, in 2012, "... North Carolina changed how it provides mental health care for those on Medicaid. The state put 11 regional organizations, called MCOs, in charge and gave them less money to work with."  ( WFAE ); This has mirrored the trend nationally where states have shifted cost into the community without properly funding them "... the Community Mental Health Act of 1963, promised that 1,500 small community mental health centers would be constructed—but this ideal never materialized.... ...