County seeks to establish medical, behavioral health unit in KCSO jails
A funding request coming before the Board of Supervisors at its Tuesday meeting seeks an additional $5.7 million for staff positions for a proposed Medical and Behavioral Health Section.
The unit "will manage key programs for the improvement of mental health services and the overall well-being of justice-involved individuals," Chief Administrative Officer Nancy Anderson wrote in the funding request.
The establishment of the section aims to add to and improve programs for mental health assessment, out-of-cell time social interaction, mental health care, programs, in-cell resources, cleanliness, reducing administrative segregation of vulnerable populations, and partnering with agencies and stakeholders for diversion and/or pre-release coordination.
The detention bureau currently has 16 funded positions providing those services and the new unit would require an additional 11 positions with funding for a total of 34.
If approved, the request would provide funds for one sheriff's support technician position in the sheriff-coroner budget, one behavioral health planning analyst position, seven behavioral health therapist positions and two behavioral health recovery specialist positions.
While some of the funding for the new unit will come from opioid-lawsuit reimbursement programs and state reimbursement, county staff anticipates most of the cost of the unit will have to be incorporated into the general fund budget as an ongoing cost.
KCSO on Friday referred questions about the program to the Department of Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, which did not respond to request for comment.
The creation of the new unit comes as communities across the country continue to grapple with an ongoing mental health and drug abuse crises.
The passage of Proposition 36 has strengthened punishment for certain drug crimes and last year the state debuted its new CARE Court program, which seeks to give authorities additional power to compel people into mental health treatment.
Another new law, Senate Bill 43, expanded the state's definition of gravely disabled to include mental health and substance abuse disorders, though many counties — including Kern — have opted to delay implementation of that law until 2026.
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