Thanks for reading my blogs and the info you provided in your reply. Have you ever read The Soloist by Steve Lopez? It's about a former Julliard student who becomes a schizophrenic and winds up homeless in LA. It was made into a movie w/ the same name. I just posted in word salad about a girl who gets arrested and released w/out charges. It made her paranoia much worse. Like many mentally ill persons I'm afraid of cops. I live in a nice house in suburbia so I can imagine how much worse it is to have a mental illness and be homeless. So many people at the drop-in center I volunteer at have been arrested for nothing. They're afraid of the police and their fear is considered suspect.
There's another book I read called Crazy by Pete Earley. It's about mentally ill inmates at a Miami, FL jail.
I have some research to do before I post about what happens once the mentally ill are released. FL has nothing for them except county mental health and it can take months to get in and see someone. There's a PBS Frontline documentary about what happens after release in Ohio. I highly recommend it. You can watch it at their website. Thank you and take care.