Because of budget cuts, Sacramento police expect to work with more people with mental illnesses

From The Sacramento Press in California:

The city expects that its police officers will face more mentally ill people in crisis as a result of budget cuts to Sacramento County's Department of Behavioral Health Services. The budget cuts that will ricochet back to the city are spurred by the state: The state is providing less money to the county for mental health, and the county’s resulting cuts will affect the city, according to a Sept. 1 report from city officials.

Sacramento County expects to lose more than $10 million in state funding that would go toward its Behavioral Health Services, according to the city’s report. The state is dropping the funding because of its ongoing budget crisis.

To address the lack of mental health funding, the county department intends to shut down its crisis stabilization unit and cut 50 of 100 beds at the Sacramento County Mental Health Treatment Center on Stockton Boulevard, the report notes. At the crisis stabilization unit, adults have received crisis intervention and stabilization services for up to 23 hours, according to the county's website. But the cuts at the county mean the city will face a larger burden to address citizens’ mental health problems.

“A reduction of these services will have a negative impact on our ability to deliver services to the community,” the city’s report states. “We anticipate a significant increase in calls for service for people in crisis, and an increase in arrests as our options will be severely limited.”

Sacramento Police Department spokesman Norm Leong said the police have been dealing with occasional closures at the county mental health treatment center for months. At various times, the center has also not been able to accept new patients, Leong said.

The police department responds to calls about people who cannot take care of themselves, or who are suicidal or dangerous to others, Leong said. When there was adequate county funding, the city police would take the mentally ill person to the county’s mental health treatment center, he explained.

Now, the police department has been trying to take mentally ill people to local hospitals or facilities, depending on the individual’s health insurance, Leong said.

The police can also arrest the mentally ill person if he or she is charged with a crime, he said, emphasizing that there must be a criminal reason in order for the police to make the arrest. The Sacramento County Main Jail has mental health facilities and mental treatment, he noted.

Finding a way for the person to receive mental health treatment “ultimately is the goal,” Leong said.

The police department does not keep statistics on the number of mentally ill people with a criminal charge who are booked at jail instead of in a mental health facility, he said.

Other state cuts affecting the city include the state’s plan to take $19.6 million from the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency in 2010. The state plans to take another $4 million from the city in fiscal year 2011, according to the city’s report.

The report also notes that the state will cut $1.3 million in grant funding for Sacramento Department of Parks and Recreation programs that serve disabled teens and provide child care and adult day care.