A Sacramento teacher arrested, thrown in jail during a mental health crisis, family says
A Sacramento teacher’s family is decrying criminal charges levied against the woman from actions — including threatening school officials — they say arose during a mental health crisis.
Kaylin Footman, a second-grade teacher at Paso Verde School, faced microaggressions at work that led to her deteriorating mental state and, ultimately, her arrest, her family said in a news conference Monday with the Sacramento chapter of the NAACP. There have been no written reports of any discrimination Footman faced in the time she worked with the Natomas Unified School District, according to a spokeswoman for the district. Footman worked at the district for at least five years.
The incident set off a chain of events providing a glimpse into how Sacramento law enforcement grapples with people facing mental health crises and their arrests. Footman, who was arrested Oct. 14, faces a felony charge of resisting arrest and a misdemeanor charge of battery against an officer.
She remains in custody in lieu of a $20,000 bond at the Sacramento County Main Jail and faces arraignment Tuesday in Sacramento Superior Court after refusing to leave her cell for an appearance Monday afternoon.
“We are scared for her life as well as her long-term mental health,” Tere Harris, Footman’s mother, said at the news conference at the Fruitridge Community Collaborative.
According to Harris, Footman’s mental state deteriorated to the point her family called the Sacramento Police Department for help. Police declined to place her on a so-called 51-50 mental health hold and Harris said officers gave the family phone numbers as referrals to mental health services.
However, Harris said, those numbers offering residents mental health resources, including 988, were not available on the weekend. Both state and county officials say 988 operates 24/7.
Harris said she called law enforcement again, and authorities decided to take her. But, Harris said, she learned then her daughter was going to be arrested “instead of getting her the help that she needed.”
Footman hasn’t appeared in court because she has been too ill, said Katherine Carlson, a public defender. Jail records show that Footman is being housed in the jail’s psychiatric ward.
Carlson said that Footman was originally held on suspicion of making criminal threats, threatening a school official and resisting a peace officer. She faced arraignment last week but those charges were put on hold as officials tried moving Footman to a mental health hospital. Footman resisted that effort, her lawyer said — actions that the family said arose from Footman’s devolved mental state.
“Sheriff (Jim) Cooper should be ashamed of himself,” said Betty Williams, president of the Sacramento NAACP. “This is his responsibility.”
Jail records show only the two current charges levied by the Sheriff’s Office.
The Sacramento Police Department referred inquiries about the incidents to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, which operates the jail. Sgt. Amar Gandhi, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
