In Santa Barbara County, we see persons on our streets suffering from the most serious mental illness without treatment because they have no inkling they are ill. NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) and Families ACT! are advocating for a higher level of available longer-term, temporary secured treatment for these persons so that they can recover and properly care for their own health.
Earlier this year, the county’s Community Corrections Partnership funded a pilot program to make four longer-term treatment beds available for the first time to jail inmates so that they could be in treatment instead of remaining in the jail. A month ago, we were told the first bed had been filled.
A week ago, the daughter of a couple I've been hearing from for years was admitted from the jail on a mental health conservatorship. She'd been cycling the system — homeless, then in the jail and the hospitals — for many years. Her parents had created an accessory dwelling unit for her, but she wouldn't stay. They would occasionally hear from her and put her up in motels. They are hugely relieved, the father saying they at last have hope after so many years. They are impressed with the Crestwood Healing Center, a “subacute” treatment center. Their daughter initially tried to abscond, but she could not. She has asked to go home, but her parents know she is not yet ready and would not do well. For someone who has been so ill for so long, it takes time for the brain to heal.