During its regular meeting Dec. 3, the Tarrant County Commissioners Court unanimously agreed to a resolution asking the state of Texas for funding and establishment for mental health services that would aid Tarrant County residents and alleviate pressure on the county jail and mental health providers.

Breaking it down

The options the commissioners requested include a state mental health facility for Tarrant County residents, the expansion of an existing facility with space allocated specifically for Tarrant County residents or funding for Tarrant County to partner with a private facility.

Reading from a prepared statement, Judge Tim O’Hare said that Tarrant County is the largest county in the state that does not have a state-funded mental health facility.

He added that the lack of adequate mental health infrastructure has contributed to a growing mental health crisis, with an average of 331 inmates in the Tarrant County jail awaiting competency restoration.

By the numbers

O’Hare said that Tarrant County has been proactive in treating mental health among residents through funding and initiative programs by:

• Having 136 psychiatric beds in the JPS Health Network for emergent and short-term care. Through the 2018 bond program, more beds will be added, though a date wasn’t given when that would occur.
• Implementing a 42-bed mental health jail diversion center to reduce incarceration rates among individuals with mental health conditions
• Creating a mental health law liaison program to improve interactions between law enforcement and individuals experiencing mental health crises
• Creating the largest jail-based competency restoration program in the state

“I’d like to congratulate you on your leadership with this issue,” Commissioner Roy Brooks told O’Hare during the meeting. “It is my hope that your prayers added to the prayers of all the rest of us will help get those prayers beyond the ceiling so the Legislature will hear them and act.”

What else?

According to the statement, state funding for a mental health facility or designated beds would save taxpayer dollars, reduce the need for a jail expansion and minimize medical expenses generated for inmates receiving mental health care.

The statement further reads that the Commissioners Court is ready to work with state leaders to secure the funding. O’Hare said the Commissioners Court will be sending an official letter to state representatives within a week of the council meeting.

O’Hare added that he has already spoken with one state representative about the funding and that this representative was “on board.”