JAIL PACT FAILS TO SOLVE WOES, LAWYER SAYS; CRITICISMS IN REPORT UNFAIR, MENTAL HEALTH OFFICIAL INSISTS.

Byline: Lee Condon Daily News Staff Writer

A new agreement to give better care to mentally ill inmates fails to fix the rocky relationship between psychiatrists and sheriff's deputies working in county jails, according to a report released Wednesday.

Just two weeks ago Los Angeles County's Department of Mental Health and the Sheriff's Department approved a memorandum of understanding designed to clearly define each agency's role in handling mentally ill inmates.

The memorandum was drafted in response to a blistering report issued Sept. 5 by the U.S. Department of Justice, which labeled the county's treatment of mentally ill inmates as unconstitutional.

The county was put on notice that improvements must be evident in 40 days, or Justice Department officials could sue and force the county to make changes under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act.

But Merrick J. Bobb, a lawyer hired by the Board of Supervisors to monitor Sheriff's Department reforms, said the new agreement fails to resolve basic problems between the departments.

``It does not substantially change the basic, unsatisfactory allocation of duties that has led mental health care in the jails to become a disturbing source of risk and possible malfeasance,'' Bobb wrote. ``Purported commitments are phrased in highly qualified language with too many escape hatches. It does not do the job and is far too imprecise.''

Bobb and his staff criticized the Department of Mental Health for leaving it to the sheriff's deputies or medical staff to identify inmates as mentally ill and for waiting to step in.

But David Meyer, chief of justice services for the Department of Mental Health, called Bobb's criticisms unfair. Meyer claimed Bobb ignored major improvements the department has made in the past year, including hiring 60 new psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and nurses to work in county jails. Meyer said neither he nor Areta Crowell, director of the department, was ever contacted by Bobb and his staff as part of the investigation.

``I've never spoken with the man. He's never viewed any of our records,'' Meyer said. ``The strides we've made in the last year - in terms of identification, screening and assessment - have been remarkable.''

Meyer said Bobb's report is misleading and could lead the Justice Department to doubt county claims that there have been real improvements.

``It's a disaster,'' he said.

Meyer also defended the new memorandum of understanding, saying it reflects major progress in the relationship between the Mental Health Department and the Sheriff's Department.

Sheriff Sherman Block said the memorandum is just a framework for dealing with the mentally ill population in the jails. Block said he is putting together a review group to recommend solutions to any further problems between the departments.

Officials of both departments say there have been major changes since federal investigators visited the jails in August 1996.

In addition to giving deputies more training in dealing with mentally ill inmates, the Sheriff's Department has opened the Twin Towers Jail downtown and the new Inmate Reception Center, both with better facilities to deal with mentally ill inmates.

Bobb released the report Wednesday.