To the editor:

Who can hum the old “Hee-Haw” tune, “Gloom, Despair and Agony on Me”? Thursday’s Journal-World took me in that direction with the news that our 196-bed jail will soon likely need to be expanded by about 140 beds, with 70 of those beds to be devoted to inmates in need of mental health treatment.

Wouldn’t it be an altogether brilliant, compassionate and fiscally responsible measure to first do all we can to implement preventative measures and keep our kids OUT of Douglas County Jail? Let’s start with supporting more WRAP workers in our schools. WRAP workers provide schools, families and students a ready-made connection to mental health services as soon as a need for help is recognized or suspected.

WRAP interventions would likely also help address another slice of sadness I gleaned from Thursday’s paper, the fact that although the number of our students achieving ACT benchmarks for college and career readiness has improved once again for the fourth straight year, the gap between white and minority students continues to broaden.