That said, this would be a project I'd be interested in contributing to. If you set it up, shoot me an email.
But I suspect that much like homelessness, step 0 is gathering an accurate, systemic level picture so we can even understand what we're trying to fix. Targeted treatments and good intentions aren't working -- we need a system level mechanism.
Ed:
I replied to a cached copy; leaving in case anyone raises the same point.
So the question becomes, what is the gamut of these jails? Are there facilities that are run well, on time, safely, etc..? What separates them from these hellholes? What's the context? What's the difference between those counties?