LOCAL

St. Joseph County Council OK's $2.7M from ARPA funds for mental-health crisis center

Christian Sheckler
South Bend Tribune
South Bend Pastor Gilbert Washington prays outside the County-City Building on Tuesday during a press conference pushing the St. Joseph County Council to approve $2.7 million to fund a mental-health crisis center.

SOUTH BEND — Instead of jail, some people having mental-health emergencies may soon go to a new behavioral-crisis center, after the St. Joseph County Council approved almost $2.7 million in federal COVID-19 dollars to build out the facility and run it for the first year.

The move comes amid a push by health officials, faith leaders and even the county sheriff to avoid incarcerating people with mental-health and addiction problems, when possible, and instead direct them to treatment.

In a 9-0 vote Tuesday, the County Council approved more than $1.3 million to renovate space for the crisis center in the existing Epworth Hospital on Niles Avenue in South Bend, and more than $1.3 million in annual operating expenses. The money will come from the county’s $53 million share of American Rescue Plan dollars.

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Under the plan, police who respond to mental-health episodes will have the option of taking the person to the crisis center for treatment instead of arresting them. At the crisis center, mental-health technicians and therapists will work to stabilize the person, usually within 24 hours, according to county documents.

Proponents say that approach is not only more compassionate and effective, but also a less costly option than taking people to hospital emergency rooms or housing them at the county jail.

“We’ve heard a lot of our community members who have had a family member with a minor mental health crisis where the police have been called,” said Jeff Walker, director of the Beacon Resource Center and a member of the group Faith in Indiana. “Unfortunately, oftentimes this individual ends up in jail, because currently in our county we don’t have any place to take individuals with a mental health crisis.”

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Faith in Indiana members held a prayer vigil and press conference prior to Tuesday’s council meeting to push for the funding. Dozens of supporters packed the council chamber, some of them breaking out in applause after the unanimous vote.

Supporters of the center say it can help with crises ranging from drug- and alcohol-related incidents to schizophrenia or psychosis.

During public comment on the funding bill, one woman read a letter from a friend who found her husband drunk and angrily talking to himself while holding a pistol in the middle of the night. After the friend called for help, her husband was arrested and faced criminal charges and court costs for an incident he didn’t even remember, the letter said.

St. Joseph County Sheriff Bill Redman said police have sometimes been forced to arrest someone for behavior that could have been resolved with the proper medication.

Redman said he wants to reduce the burden on his jail, but he also recognizes most police officers simply don’t have the expertise to handle behavioral crises. His department has begun to put a greater emphasis on mental health, dedicating one officer to responding to those incidents and hiring a social worker.

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“Sometimes as officers, we don’t have options, so we make that decision to go ahead and arrest somebody. Everybody’s in agreement this is the missing link in St. Joseph County,” Redman said after the council’s vote. “We’re hoping we can at least help individuals get somewhere they’re going to get help.”

The crisis center will be in a 4,000-square-foot space at Epworth, which is owned by Memorial Hospital. That will give it space to house about 12 patients at a time.

The plan for the center, submitted to the council by the St. Joseph County Health Department, calls for Oaklawn, the community’s main mental-health services provider, to staff the center with funding from the county. The health department will monitor the program and be responsible for collecting and reporting data.

Some council members have raised questions about how the center will be funded after the federal COVID money runs out. Dr. Bob Einterz, the county health officer, last month told the council the private health-care providers involved in the plan, such as Oaklawn and Beacon Health System, will be tasked with finding a long-term model.

Einterz told the council he also expects more money to become available from the federal or state governments.

In the long run, Einterz said, the plan will save money, whether it’s measured by savings for the county jail or the insurance costs that would otherwise be poured into emergency-room visits for people in crisis.

“It’s not county dollars for example that go to care for somebody in the emergency room,” he said, “but overall, in terms of our tax dollars, our insurance dollars, we’re looking at a more efficient system and a system that will provide much better care.”