Women’s health pod at KCSO now open [Video]

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Kent County Sheriff’s Office has reopened its mental health unit within the correctional facility after months of renovating and expanding its current space. The pod provides mental health services and programs for women to help them during and after incarceration.

“This pod expansion has been a long time in the making,” chief deputy Lyndsie Cole said.

On the other side of 701 Ball Avenue NE, newly painted murals adorn the walls, dedicated to the women inside the Kent County Jail. The expansion now provides a new place for women to gather.

“Every inmate that we have in our custody goes through what we call a classification process, and through that process we evaluate what needs they have,” Cole said.

“Our medical and mental health staff determine where they should best be housed, …