Minutes 01-23-2024 - Assembly of Governments

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17 Kathleen Ferguson asked if the site would have sidewalks. She also said that in other states, there are private behavioral health facilities. She asked if anyone knew how those facilities are funded. Travis Myren said he is not aware of how facilities in other states might be funded. Kathleen Ferguson said she would find out. Paris Miller-Foushee said this is a game changer, but she was disappointed that there was not more involvement from UNC. She said they are an important part of the success of the facility. She also said this could be a game changer for public safety in the community. She asked Cait Fenhagen to comment on that. Cait Fenhagen said the criminal system has embraced this because the detention center has become a de facto mental health facility and law enforcement has to focus on mental health crises rather than criminal activity. She said law enforcement has been involved every step of the way. She said court stakeholders will be able to use the facility to get forensic evaluations. She said they have all been part of the conversation. Melissa McCullough asked if the financial savings could be leveraged to improve access to funding. Travis Myren said the time saved for law enforcement and EMS will improve availability. He said the ambulance will not be tied up at the ED for 30 minutes due to a drop off for mental health. Camille Berry referred to the mission statement for the facility: To enhance Orange County crisis services to best facilitate deflection/diversion of individuals experiencing a Behavioral Health crisis (Mental Health and/or Substance Use Disorder) from either hospital-based emergency departments or the criminal justice system. She asked if it was necessary to stipulate from where individuals would be diverted from (the hospital emergency departments or criminal justice system). She asked if the mission statement could be amended to state: To enhance Orange County crisis services to best facilitate deflection/diversion of individuals experiencing a Behavioral Health crisis (Mental Health and/or Substance Use Disorder). She asked why there are limitations to the statement. Travis Myren said that currently, those two spaces are the two areas where people experiencing a crisis usually end up. Cait Fenhagen said people sometimes go to Durham or Wake Counties. She said when it is serious enough and law enforcement is involved, they can go to the emergency room or the facility. Camille Berry said she is trying to understand why it is limited to people in those two situations. Chair Bedford said it is not limited and anyone in Orange County can access the services. Camille Berry asked if it is necessary to have that language in the mission statement. She said she just wanted to be clear. She asked if there is a similar facility in Greensboro and if staff looked at how they function. Cait Fenhagen said yes. She said the chair of the Crisis Diversion Facility Subcommittee, Tony Marimpietri, did research on all of the facilities in NC. She said they have used a lot of information about them. She said the Buncombe County facility is probably the pre-eminent facility in the state that they modeled after, but every community has different needs. Camille Berry said there is a behavioral health institution that issues grants and was looking for ways to award funds. Cait Fenhagen said Alliance has been at all of the meetings and has been very engaged. She said the legislature recently gave a lot of money for behavioral health services and the DHHS is responsible for allocating those funds. She said they have already submitted information to the MCO about the mobile crisis pilot and the crisis diversion facility.