Eighty–five percent of the inmates in our custody are committed for drug and alcohol related offenses. Nearly half of Suffolk County’s incarcerated population present with some form of mental illness that ranges from mild personality disorder to major mental illness. Of that number, more than 30% suffer from a major mental illness. The percentage of mental illness diagnosed in the female population is approximately 36% higher than in male inmates. Over 67% of our population suffers from a co-morbidity of mental illness and addiction. To meet the considerable challenges presented by these troubling numbers, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department has significantly increased inmate access to mental health services, but more resources are needed on the outside. I continue to advocate for more mental health and addiction recovery beds in our communities as both a means to actively support returning citizens in their successful reentry to the community, and also as a preemptive measure to prevent people from entering our facilities unnecessarily in the first place.