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The development of an alternative to putting people with mental health diagnoses behind bars has been on the docket for many years, but it appears as if such a facility is finally coming to fruition.
During the Commissioners Court meeting on May 11, Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said he would like to see a mental health jail diversion center open by the end of the fiscal year on Oct. 1.
“We recognize the county jail is not the place for one to regain one’s mental health,” Tarrant County Commissioner Roy Brooks said during the meeting.
The jail diversion program would enable individuals with mental health needs who have committed non-violent, low-level crimes to receive services for psychiatric needs, homelessness, medication management, health issues, and other necessary assistance.
“It allows officers to divert an individual from incarceration to treatment,” Brooks says. “The objective of this center is to stabilize this person and do a warm hand-off to community-based care.”
After examining similar programs in Miami Day County in Florida as well as Bear Lake County and Harris County in Texas, officials have determined that Tarrant County’s center will most resemble that of Harris County.
The facility would heavily rely on the coordination of existing resources across the community, including John Peter Smith Hospital to address emergent medical needs, My Health My Resources (MHMR) to evaluate mental health needs, and law enforcement agencies for other logistical requirements.
While it has taken some time to embolden sufficient backing of a mental health jail diversion center, Tarrant County’s criminal district attorney Sharen Wilson has voiced her support for such a center since she took office in 2015.
“We have finally reached a point where we have all of the different pieces where there is a person in charge who sees the need,” she says.
According to Wilson, there are roughly 3,800 individuals imprisoned across the county during any given month. Of these individuals, it is uncertain how many have mental health needs. What is known, however, is that the majority of cases concerning mental health are criminal trespassing charges with almost 60% of these people on MHMR roll.
The impact of the development of a diversion center is multifaceted. It will be both time and cost effective, supporting the individual, law enforcement agencies, family members of those who are detained with mental health diagnoses, and the county as a whole.
“It’s a win, win, win,” Whitley says.
Escorting criminal offenders to the jail inhibits police from being on patrol, but the process of taking individuals to the new center could divert police for only 5 to 10 minutes, Whitley says. In eliminating the need of a court proceeding and bond setting, it would also be less expensive for the county and for the family of the person involved. Finally, the individual avoids incarceration while receiving counseling and other services.
As the facility remains in the early stages of development, yet to be determined are the logistics of funding and management as well as the location and size of the space. At the aforementioned Commissioners Court meeting, Tarrant County Administrator G.K. Maenius said he will engage a real estate agency to find an 18,000- to 20,000-square-foot rental facility in Tarrant County to house the center.
Officials are looking at locations located conveniently off of a highway and central to the various agencies involved.
“When it’s all said and done,” Wilson says, “it’s simply the right thing to do.”
