Most of the San Mateo County Civil Grand
Jury recommendations related to the care of individuals with mental health
issues “requires further analysis,” according to a report by County Manager
John Maltbie.
One recommendation is to develop a
pre-plea mental health diversion program to help keep individuals in crisis out
of jail.
Currently, up to 24 percent of inmates in
county jail are diagnosed with mental illness and 70 percent are substance
abusers. Many inmates are diagnosed with both disorders.
District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe,
however, isn’t a fan of diversion as proposed by the grand jury, he said after
the report was released. His office implemented a deferred entry of judgment
program June 1 for individuals with low-level misdemeanor offenses.
It requires the individual to plead no
contest to the crime they committed. The agreement delays sentencing until the
individual completes a program. If they don’t complete a program, then they
return to court for sentencing.
In a pre-plea jail diversion program,
charges are never filed which could be problematic for the District Attorney’s
Office if the individual does not complete a program.
The county’s Behavioral Health and
Recovery Services department will also be opening a crisis residential “respite”
center that will provide a potential option to incarceration, according to
Maltbie’s report.
The grand jury issued a report “Treatment
for Adult Mental Illness in San Mateo County: What Exists? What Should Exist”
in June that finds it to be an extreme challenge for individuals when trying to
access county-provided services.
The grand jury issued five
recommendations, two of which have already been implemented or are about to be
including the implementation of Laura’s Law and coordinating computerized medical
records across three county divisions including at the San Mateo Medical
Center, Behavioral Health and Recovery Services and the county jail, according
to Maltbie’s report.
Laura’s Law authorizes the courts to
order outpatient treatment for individuals with mental illness.
Other recommendations such as designing a
more useful website for individuals who need immediate help, however, will
require more analysis by the county before being implemented, according to
Maltbie’s report to the Board of Supervisors.
The board is required to respond to the
civil grand jury report although it is not required to follow any of the
recommendations.
The grand jury also recommended that the
county conduct a public education campaign regarding mental health services
including which services are available to individuals with private insurance.
“BHRS does not have the means to address
public awareness across all private insurers. The large private insurers in our
region are responsible for increasing awareness among their members of the
services they offer and how to access them,” Maltbie wrote in the report.
Most private insurers
now offer mental health services with the passage of the Affordable Care Act,
Maltbie wrote.
September 4, 2015
The
Daily Journal
By Bill
Silverfarb
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