Week of May 26, 2022
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An edition of the Littleton Independent A publication of
VOLUME 21 | ISSUE 27
County jail sees high need for mental health care Steps being taken to address it BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Roughly 3 in 5 inmates at the Arapahoe County jail have a mental health condition, according to
recent data — and that number may be even higher when taking into account substance use problems, according to Arapahoe County Sheriff Tyler Brown. It’s an issue that Carl Anderson, a registered nurse who oversees medical and mental health at the Arapahoe County jail, knows well. During one week alone in April, staff used medicine to reverse two
overdoses at the jail, Anderson said. In March, 59% of the jail population was treated with some kind of psychotropic medication, according to Anderson. That can include anti-anxiety, anti-depressive or anti-psychotic medications, or mood stabilizers. The jail also sees large numbers of people struggling with drug use. In March, 4% of the jail’s population
was on medication-assisted treatment — and 21% were on other substance use disorder protocols, Anderson said. That number includes opioid use disorder and alcohol use disorder, Anderson said, calling it an “all encompassing” statistic. The inmates who are treated with mental health medications are not SEE NEED, P4
Pressure to succeed is costing kids their childhoods County launches Expectations have shifted eviction clinic to over the course help low-income of generations residents BY THELMA GRIMES TGRIMES@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
As we forge forward through the 2020s, the pressure for youth to succeed is starting to impact kids as early as preschool and could be robbing of them of their childhood as societal demands create more pressure and anxiety than ever before. Over the last 100 years, the pressure to succeed in America has mounted. Whether it is the need to live the clichéd American Dream or the requirements set by parents that children will succeed and follow the path laid out for them, kids are taught early on that they have to not only get a high school diploma but, to be happy and successful, they must go to college as well. A comic, created by Cartoonist Hilary Price, shows a mom lying on a table watching the sonogram of her baby. As the doctor checks things out, they start discussing the fact that it is never too early to SEE SUCCEED, P11
$1.5 million allotted to program BY ROBERT TANN RTANN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
From school work, planning for college and all other activities, students feel more presSHUTTERSTOCK sure today than ever before.
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 14 | LIFE: PAGE 16 | CALENDAR: PAGE 19 | SPORTS: PAGE 38
Arapahoe County has opened an in-person clinic to provide legal aid to residents facing eviction. Located on the third floor of the county building at 1690 W. Littleton Boulevard, the clinic will be open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays between 8 and 11 a.m. The program is a partnership with Colorado Legal Services, a statewide nonprofit providing civil legal services to low-income Coloradans. “There are a lot of people facing eviction right now as a result of the economic consequences of the SEE CLINIC, P8
FARM-FRESH FARE From farm to tables, summer’s markets are open
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