Advisory team to address judicial system mental health services

The creation of a county- based Behavioral Advisory Team, with a goal of improving the lives of those in the criminal justice system here, is in the works.

The Hays County Commissioners Court received an update on the new team’s progress at their regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday.

Hays County Court at Law No. 3 Judge Elaine Brown, Hays County District Attorney Kelly Higgins and San Marcos Police Chief Stan Standridge were present for the discussion of goals for the BAT, and the need for collaboration and allocation of resources among different groups, with the common purpose of improving conditions for individuals with mental health issues in the criminal justice system.

“The group was created after the Hays County Mental Health Assessment was done, and also the SIMM workshop–the Sequential Intercept Model Mapping Workshop,” Hays County Commissioner Precinct-1 Debbie Ingalsbe said. “There’s a great group of individuals that have been working very hard to provide more mental health [and] substance abuse services here in Hays County.”

According to the Texas Judicial Commission on Mental Health website, the Sequential Intercept Model is often used as a reference point for communities to assess available resources, determine gaps in services and plan for local changes.

Higgins said the concern is that there are various groups doing the same work and competing for the limited resources available.

“There is not enough coordination among these groups,” Higgins said, adding that this team would like to appeal to other groups working in these areas, and ask them to join in this effort.

Brown said the BAT plans to hold a symposium in the future, to coordinate with other groups to address how resources and needs can be managed in the community.

Brown said the court she presides over also contains the mental health court within its purview.

“We [the behavioral advisory team] signed our charter in March of this year, and our purpose is to function as a single point [of] advisory, accountability, planning and resource coordination for the city of San Marcos, the city of Kyle and all of Hays County behavioral health services,” Brown said. “We include all individuals with mental health, substance abuse and intellectual or developmental disabilities.”

Brown said the BAT contains two co-chairs, herself and Standridge, Higgins, law enforcement officials, city council members, emergency service employees, jail personnel, mental health providers, commissioners, court representation including probation and pretrial services.

“We have identified gaps in services in Hays County, and we have identified them as goals for the Behavioral Advisory Team to try to address,” Brown said.

Brown said the first gap involves crisis service in the form of either a diversion center or a stabilization center to address situations involving a mental health crisis and the need for stabilization– a goal, which the BAT has identified as having primary importance. She said another need is an assertive community treatment program which is designed to help those with serious mental illness by allowing them to remain in the community and out of the jail system–part of which would involve local competency restoration and a competency docket to increase timeliness. She said they’ve discussed both a jail based and outpatient competency program.

“We have many individuals who have not even had their day in court but are there because they are incompetent to stand trial,” Brown said. “Until their competency is established, their case cannot move forward.”

Higgins said, as a district attorney, he has a specific focus with his work on the team.

“My focus as DA has been very much related to our jail population, and the failures of the system regarding mentally ill and specifically legally incompetent inmates,” Higgins said. “Since getting into the group, I have pushed very strongly for new ways to address that problem including specialty local restoration which can be included within the jail and as a condition of bond.”

Higgins said he wants to avoid criminalizing biology. He told an anecdotal story of a person in a mental health crisis who gets arrested for criminal trespassing, which has a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail, but is held in jail while awaiting a mental health hospital bed, currently a 20 month wait, due to mental incompetence to stand trial. He said he’s attempting to demonstrate that the person’s stay in jail could be much longer than the sentence which further highlights the need for a local mental health competency program.

“Local restoration will mean that we can either release this inmate to either home with conditions of bond requiring medication or we can diagnose, prescribe and administer medication within the jail,” Higgins said. “I believe this is one early, achievable goal that will make a major difference.”

Brown said there is a need for a behavioral health office to coordinate services and provide resources to those in need. She said that it would be beneficial to reevaluate and improve emergency and law enforcement response to behavioral crises, which would help to divert these individuals to needed care and out of the jail system.

“The San Marcos Mental Health Unit has added a mental health clinician in the police department who goes out with their mobile crisis team to address mental health issues that arise,” Brown said. Brown noted the San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District has been involved as well by sharing high-risk student profiles with Hill Country Mental Health Services with the goal of assisting students before a crisis situation occurs.

Brown added that so far the team has identified and developed subcommittees to address their goals, and have increased community awareness for the need for those services and held a symposium to increase knowledge about diversion courts.