Elected officials are said to be participating hearings that will help improve access to mental heath care within the LA County jails.  LASD Sheriff Lee Baca was supposed to participate last Friday.

It is said that he is working closely with a Senate committee in hopes of reducing very high recidivism rates.  It is believed that as many as 33,000 of the state's inmate population suffers from some form of mental illness.

Baca said the LASD is committed to improving access to mental health services within the LA County jails.

He said that many of these detainees come in with a set of problems that impact both their health and decision making processes.   Elected officials have said the cost to house this population is expensive.

The average annual cost to hold an inmate is about $52,000.  That price tag can nearly double when a person is mentally ill.

Experts are expected to testify as to how providing access to mental health services to people on probation and parole can keep recently released offenders on the straight and narrow.

Keeping these people out of jail will help save millions of taxpayer dollars each year, they said.

The LA County board of supervisors has reportedly already approved a study that will potentially replace an old Men's Central Jail tower with a state of the art treatment facility.  It is unclear when those results will be released.

Baca said that jails are continuing to adapt to the growing need to provide mental health care services to detainees.  The matter is ongoing.