CAJE Urges Leaders to Create Jail Diversion Center

Evansville IN

29 March, 2022

2:20 PM

Description

By John Gibson, WNIN March 29, 2022 A religious organization is urging Vanderburgh County leaders to invest in a Jail Diversion facility. Congregations Acting for Justice and Empowerment – or CAJE – says the over-crowded county jail is routinely used to warehouse individuals that suffer from mental and/or substance-abuse issues. In a release, CAJE says many of them face no felony charge or conviction, and are not violent. The group is urging the county to use one percent of available federal funding to pay for a crisis care/diversion center at United Caring Services in Evansville. CAJE notes county commissioners and some county council members committed to such a facility a year ago. The group has sent a letter to local leaders, urging them not to kick the can down the road. WNIN is the NPR/PBS affiliate in Evansville, Indiana. We serve Southwestern Indiana, Western Kentucky and Southern Illinois from our multimedia facility located on the Ohio River in downtown Evansville. For the past several years, the recognized quality of our local news has placed us among the best small market radio news organizations in the nation.