By Magaly Muñoz

Alameda County has received an $8.25 million grant from the California Department of State Hospitals (DSH) to expand residential care options for up to 88 people who have been found incompetent to stand trial after being charged with felony offenses.

The grant will support the Alameda County Behavioral Health Department (ACBHD) in its mission to ensure that those in the criminal justice system suffering from serious mental illness receive behavioral health services in non-prison settings.

Juan Taizan, Director of Forensic Diversion and Re-Entry Services, said that consideration for eligibility for these mental health services is determined by the judge, the district attorney and the public defender on the case. Once a person is accepted, the care is tailored to each individual’s mental capacity.

“A clinical team will meet with the client, assess for medication needs, assess for individual therapeutic needs, and then really work with them around education, and competency education in particular, to help them understand their role in the court process,” Taizan said.

How a court will proceed with an individual’s case is based on a psychiatrist’s recommendation regarding their progress in treatment or whether they will need additional mental health services.

James Wagner, Deputy Director of ACBHD, said the severity of the person’s crime does determine eligibility. The individual could have committed a minor crime, like theft, or a major crime where someone was hurt, but the determination comes from whether the person is stable and mentally competent to endure and participate in a trial. They also are required to have received a felony charge or are likely to receive one.

Mental health facilities already exist in the county, but facilities that cater to those going through the justice system are now in the process of being built and resourced through the multi-million dollar grant.

The treatment in these facilities will vary on a case-by-case basis, but they’ll likely mimic locked institutions or involuntary treatment facilities because most of the clients are not yet ready to be reintegrated into the community.

Wagner said treatment plans for the individuals will include participation with a social worker, therapist or case manager on developing their goals. They’ll also attend rehab classes, be allowed socialization with other patients, receive individual counseling, and participate in group meals as a collective.

Taizan emphasized the need to have these treatment facilities available to allow for individuals to grow and be given the resources to help with their mental health difficulties in a less restrictive environment than incarceration.

“This funding really allows us to get these specific clients who would otherwise be waiting in jail for a state hospital bed to open up. It allows us to divert them to a treatment facility, in their community, where they can be best served, and with a goal of getting the treatment they need and being restored to competency,” Taizan said.

Imprisonment has historically been used as a solution to keep mentally ill individuals off the streets as opposed to giving them fair health treatment. Over 40% of people in jails and prisons have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.

Shannon Scully, Director of Justice Policy and Initiatives for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), told the Post that most states and local governments are grappling with how to go from using incarceration as a solution to making more beds available for treatment.

Scully said that a lot of the crimes that people who are experiencing mental health crises are petty crimes or homelessness, which many cities across the country have criminalized, but have largely affected vulnerable communities.

She added that if national and local municipalities focused more on investing in social programs centered around housing, food accessibility and affordable health care, along with prioritizing treatment with voluntary therapy and medication, we could avoid the mass incarceration of these mentally ill individuals.

“What we want to see is a mental health response when you know there’s behaviors happening in our community from people with mental health conditions that might be concerning to us, and we, as the public, identify this as a mental health issue and not as a public safety or crime issue,” Scully said.

Neither Taizan nor Wagner could provide a timeline for procuring the necessary beds for the treatment facilities, but the county has until 2028 to spend the funding.

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