Mental health providers said Thursday they are hoping for a new dawn in care for the mentally ill in Nevada County, with the infusion of $2.4 million in new state money in 2007.

A lack of state and local funding has plagued Nevada County's mental health system for years and resulted in the denial of services to many in need, new Behavioral Health Director Michael Heggarty said. He predicted the new money and a change in philosophy on treating juveniles will bring more services to more people.

"In our view, we haven't done much treatment in the past, so this money will come in handy," Heggarty said.

About 36 clients will get services from the juvenile grant, 30 with the adult program and another 30 with the Mental Health Services Act money. Heggarty said he is confident that the MHSA appropriation will grow in coming years and make up for the grants if they dry up.

"You start adding all this up, and there may be light at the end of the tunnel for behavioral health and for the future for the community," Heggarty said. "We're going to treat more individuals than we have historically."

A change in interpretation about who qualifies for care will also allow juveniles in the criminal justice system to be treated for the first time, Heggarty said.

"Now any (juvenile) in Nevada County who has MediCal and mental health needs will qualify," Heggarty said. "Almost all foster care kids will qualify for our services."

Three new sources

The money includes a $660,000 state grant for a mentally ill juvenile offender program over 18 months and another $700,000 grant over three years for adults in the criminal justice system.

The third source of new money is the Mental Health Services Act, also known as Proposition 63, approved by voters in 2004. It is expected to bring $1.1 million to the county for overall services.

The new programs funded by the money will use a team concept for the clients chosen. Each team will consist of mental health, justice system and social services professionals. That model has been used successfully in California recently, prompting the governor to fast-track funding this year, Heggarty said.

The criminal justice grants have been available since 1999, Heggarty said, but the county only applied once for them in their first five years and was turned down. The Union was unable to locate former Behavioral Health Director Robert Erickson for comment.

Heggarty said the department will use the new money to beef up budgets within existing county departments to pay for the team members, and several hires will occur.

"We'll also attempt to contract out more services and will be sending out requests for proposals soon," Heggarty said. "This is going to help a lot. It's about time."



Others pleased

The news of the grants has created hope among officials who deal with the county's mentally ill.

Lily Marie runs the Spirit Center mental health drop-in facility for the county in Grass Valley. She said she hopes the center's meager funding can be increased.

"It's great news," Marie said. "Anytime we get money to provide more supportive services for people who are mentally ill, it's great, particularly for those who have ended up in the criminal justice system."

The adult grant, which is expected to fund the county's already established Mental Health Court, is an example of what could be, Marie said.

"They started with no funding whatsoever and made it work," Marie said. "They saved the county a lot of money because people didn't end up in jail."

People going through Mental Health Court have done court-ordered community service work at the Spirit Center. That work will probably continue and grow with the new funding, Marie said.

"Instead of drawing from the system, they are contributing to it," Marie said.

Lt. Tom Carrington at the Nevada County Sheriff's Office also is happy with the news.

"It will stop the revolving door we've had with (mentally ill) people going in and out of jail," Carrington said. ""I've seen it for 30 years and the idea that we can pull them out of the (normal) criminal justice system is good. It's the best shot at stopping this I've seen, ever."

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To contact Senior Staff Writer Dave Moller, e-mail davem@theunion.com or call 477-4237.