WFAE — with support from the PBS series, "FRONTLINE" — has been examining the problem of inmates living with mental illness. This week we focus on ways to help former inmates stay out of jail. And the ways the system fails to do that.

The Abyss: Inmates with mental health and substance abuse disorders cycle through jails relentlessly

The mental health care system in North Carolina has been failing for years. Perhaps nowhere is that more evident than those who get caught up in the criminal justice system, out of sight, therefore out of mind for the general public and policymakers. But their plight — and the brokenness of the mental health system — affects everyone in the state.

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The Abyss: Inmates with mental health and substance abuse disorders cycle through jails relentlessly

The Abyss: Inmates with mental health and substance abuse disorders cycle through jails relentlessly