Agenda - 12-15-2009 - 3b - Laserfiche WebLink

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30 MENTAL HEALTH TASK FORCE REPORT ATTACHMENT F To: Mayor's Mental Health Task Force From: Andrew Pham, Mayoral Intern Date: January 14, 2009 Subject: Town of Chapel Hill At the last meeting of the Mayor's Mental Health Taskforce, the membership requested data from the town and its departments. In response several departments submitted data regarding their role in providing services for the mentally ill in Chapel Hill. The data requested was threefold: the funds allocated for mental health service deliver (or services to other populations who also have mental health issues) to various local agencies/ providers/public departments, provider or agency budget information, and data on their clients. The following is a brief summary of the responses. Chapel Hill Police Department has three units that deal with mental health: Crisis, Human Services, and Project Turn Around. Expenditures: Primary $56,100; Secondary $50,500. In-kind contributions: $210,000 Staffing Costs: CU: $315,000 PTA $160,000 ^ Human Services distributes $250,000 to 39 different organizations, nine of which primarily provide for those with mental illnesses and four more organizations serve mentally ill populations. ^ The Crisis unit serves as a liaison with the community mental health resources and those impacted by victimization. The Crisis unit serves around 3,000 people with an estimate that 30% have mental health issues. ^ Project Turn Around provides case management for substance abuse criminal charges, some participants have mental health issues. PTA serves 175 total partcipants. 2. Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Department serves populations with mental health issues with the Special Olympic program and Therapeutic Recreation Program. The Special Olympics provides athletic activities for those with intellectual disabilities. The program served 271 people in the last year, taught 120 children sports and had 250 volunteers. The budget from the Town is $60,308 for 08-09 with $15-20,000 in additional fundraising. The Therapeutic Program's main mission is to provide inclusion for those with disabilities into typical recreation programs. The program supports 1,000 people with mental health concerns many of which are school age children. The budget for 08-09 is $102,153 3. Chapel Hill Public Works does not provide direct service to those who have mental health issues. It provides services which may benefit those who have mental health concerns. These services include: curbside collection exemptions, ADA ramp curb cuts, commercial inspections and in kind financial support to the IFC Community House. The Town's contribution to the IFC Community house is $192,000 per year in rent and $59,000 a year in utilities. 4. Chapel Hill Planning Department contributes to mental health issues on the issue of homelessness; a percentage of the homeless have a mental illness. This department spent $24,600 to employ a Coordinator for the Orange County Ten Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness. Additionally the Planning Department granted $15,000 to the Real Change from Spare change program to fund a street outreach worker. 5. Chapel Hill Transit does not have funding to provide direct mental health services. However, Transit provides daily trips from Northside Mental Health, Caring Family Network Center and Club Nova on the EZ Rider Program. The estimated yearly cost is $13,000 for transportation. Transit notes that transportation issues may prevent many menta//y ill residents from receiving menta/ hea/th services 6. Chapel Hill Public Libraries provide mental health services such as maintaining collections with information regarding mental health, free access to the Internet, safe location for reading, and information and referral sources - all in an environment that promotes respect for all patrons. Additionally, the town library often hires workers from Club NOVA to help shelve library materials. 28