6 counties vie to be selected for crisis units
Centers to take mentally ill otherwise bound for jail cell
At least six counties across the state will be vying to participate in a pilot program to reduce the number of people with mental illnesses falling into the criminal justice system.
Earlier this month, Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s office began receiving applications for a “crisis stabilization unit,” a place where law enforcement officers can take people going through a mental crisis in lieu of charging them and booking them into jail. The governor set aside $5 million in this year’s budget for the program, and an oversight committee will select applicants for three sites.
“I know that we are one of the few states that does not already have this in place,” said Craighead County Sheriff Marty Boyd. “I’ve seen some good work that’s happened because of a stabilization unit.”
Pulaski, Craighead, Saline and Sebastian counties, along with Washington and Benton counties in a joint application, have expressed intent to apply for the pilot program before the deadline Friday.
Next month, the governor’s office will establish a task force composed of 17 members — including seven appointed by the governor, four legislators, and other criminal justice stakeholders — to chose the three sites, which are expected to be announced in August, according to Kelly Eichler of the governor’s office.
The practice of diverting people with mental illnesses away from the criminal justice system and into a treatment system has been adopted in several other states across the country. Arkansas ranks near the bottom in terms of diversion options for the mentally ill, according to a 2013 nationwide study conducted by the Treatment Advocacy Center, an advocacy and lobbying group dedicated to policies related to the treatment of mental illnesses in criminal justice systems.
“This is part of a recent shift in how we approach mental illness in the criminal justice system and the growing recognition that psychiatric crisis is not a crime,” said Frankie Berger, director of advocacy for the center. “All states face the same problem that Arkansas’ pilot
seeks to address: There are too many people with mental illness stuck in jail instead of receiving treatment.”
A majority of states have enacted legislation that enables and encourages diversion, Berger said, and more efforts are underway as more diversion models emerge — such as mental health courts, crisis centers, outpatient civil commitment programs and crisis intervention teams.
On Tuesday, the Pulaski County Quorum Court passed a resolution that would commit the county to operating a crisis stabilization unit. The vote was 12-0, with three members absent. The resolution was a necessary component to complete the county’s application before submitting it to the state.
Earlier this year, the Quorum Court approved a resolution that would commit $1 million to the project should the county be selected by the state for one of the three pilot sites.
The state’s application, posted on the governor’s website, requires applicants to identify potential sites for the facility, as well as detail how the county would finance its continued operation should state funds be reduced.
Under Act 423, which enabled the pilot program, counties will be required to provide the facility while doctors, counselors and other staff members will be Health Department employees. In its pilot phase, stabilization units will be limited to 16 beds and are estimated to be able to treat 20 patients a day.
Patients will be allowed to stay in a facility for up to 10 days, during which time they can receive treatment and medication from the medical staff. Patients would typically not face criminal charges and would be committed to the unit voluntarily.
If the staff finds that the patient is in need of a longterm commitment in a residential facility, medical professionals can facilitate continued treatment with outside resources.
“I’m hoping that we’ll be able to get one of these here in Pulaski County, and it’ll be staffed by medical personnel that can evaluate these individuals, perhaps give them medical care or identify available resources to treat their condition in lieu of being incarcerated,” said Pulaski County Sheriff Doc Holladay.
“We’re not talking about individuals with violent felonies and things like that,” Holladay said. “This will be for people who have mental issues that are charged with misdemeanors.”
Currently, deputies who have run-ins with such people — who cannot be left in public — have resorted to charging them with misdemeanors, such as disorderly conduct, in order to detain them in the jail.
“Then they’re in the court system. They have to appear in court, but their mental illness continues to fester while they’re incarcerated,” Holladay said.
Boyd, in Craighead County, has been working toward implementing such a system in Jonesboro for more than three years. Without mental health resources available to county jail inmates in his vicinity, Boyd spends thousands of dollars each year transporting his inmates with mental health needs to Little Rock, either to the state hospital or the St. Vincent Health System.
“Just my department alone, we average about two to three trips per week,” Boyd said. “And we may have two or three different people in a week that we shuttle.”
Boyd hopes that the program will ultimately grow beyond its pilot stage, and he hopes to one day see eight or nine units throughout the state serving every region.
Patients will be allowed to stay in a facility for up to 10 days, during which time they can receive treatment and medication from the medical staff.