Minutes 02-01-2022 Virtual Business Meeting

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13 A motion was made by Commissioner McKee, seconded by Commissioner Fowler, to adopt and authorize the Chair to sign the resolution approving the acceptance by Orange County of the conservation easements, and approve and authorize the Chair and the Clerk to sign the conservation easement agreements and trail easement documents, subject to final review by staff and County Attorney, with a closing and recordation of the document expected to occur on or about March 30, 2022, and approve Budget Amendment#7-A. Roll call ensued VOTE: UNANIMOUS 7. Reports a. Orange County Crisis/Diversion Facility — Updated Progress Report by the Orange County Behavioral Health Task Force and Special Recognition of Tony Marimpietri The Board received updated information from the Crisis/Diversion Facility Subcommittee of the Orange County Behavioral Health Task Force, and expressed special recognition to Tony Marimpietri, the Chair of the Subcommittee. BACKGROUND: In April 2019, over thirty community stakeholders from the criminal justice system, healthcare, behavioral health system, and housing came together to participate in the Orange County Sequential Intercept Mapping (SIM) Workshop facilitated by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. The SIM process is designed to inform and address community-based responses to the involvement of individuals with behavioral health issues and intercepts with the criminal justice system. An intercept map and Final Report were created (SIM Final Report), and one of the identified community gaps that emerged from this process was the critical need for a Crisis/Diversion facility that would support diverting individuals in behavioral health crisis from the criminal justice system and the Emergency Departments at UNC Hospitals. The Behavioral Health Task Force (BHTF), co-chaired by Deputy County Manager Travis Myren and Caitlin Fenhagen, Criminal Justice Resource Department Director, and with subject matter expertise from Barbara-Ann Bybel, Director of Inpatient Psychiatry Services at UNC Hospitals, formed in 2019 to address the behavioral health intercept gaps identified in Orange County. The mission of the BHTF is to improve outcomes for individuals with behavioral health disorders through partnerships across justice, law enforcement, mental health, homelessness and substance use service systems. Later in 2019, the Crisis/Diversion Facility Subcommittee was formed and tasked with developing recommendations and a plan for a dedicated Facility. This Facility will offer behavioral health crisis services and allow for law enforcement and hospital ED diversion. The Subcommittee, under Tony Marimpietri's leadership as Chair, has met diligently and frequently over the last two years, to address this high priority need. The process has included a lengthy literature review of best-practices and elements for a crisis/diversion facility, studying existing state and national crisis/diversion facilities, seeking input from critical local stakeholders, looking at use case scenarios, examining available data and determining the appropriate scope and function for an Orange County Facility. In April 2021, the BOCC received a presentation with the detailed findings and recommendations of the Subcommittee's work. An overview of these findings and recommendations has previously been shared with the Behavioral Health Task Force, the Justice Advisory Council and Orange County's law enforcement leaders. These presentations