To: Board of Supervisors
From: Sheriff
Agenda Section: Consent
SUBJECT:
title
Approval of Contract Between the Humboldt County Correctional Facility (HCCF) and California Forensic Medical Group (CFMG) for Providing Mental Health Services for a Jail Based Competency Treatment Program
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RECOMMENDATION(S):
Recommendation
That the Board of Supervisors:
1. Approve the contract between the HCCF and CFMG;
2. Authorize the Chair of the Board to sign three original copies of the contract (Attachment 1);
3. Authorize the Sheriff, Correctional Captain, or Deputy Director of Sheriff's Administration, to sign all amendments, extensions, revisions or termination of the contract;
4. Direct the Clerk of the Board to return the signed contracts to HCCF, Attn: Captain Duane Christian.
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SOURCE OF FUNDING:
Department of State Hospitals (DSH)
DISCUSSION:
The California state mental health hospital system is overcrowded. This causes inmates who have been deemed "incompetent to stand trial" to be placed on long waiting lists for a bed in the state hospital to restore their competence. The wait is sometimes in excess of 4-6 months. During the wait period their mental health condition may deteriorate because they are not currently able to get the proper treatment at HCCF. To deal with this overcrowding issue the DSH is funding local Jail Based Competency Programs (JBCT) where inmates can be restored to competency without waiting for a state hospital bed. Several localized JBCT programs have been set-up with great success in various counties around the state.
Establishing a JBCT program in Humboldt would allow inmates, who are deemed incompetent and meet the criteria for the local JBCT, to be treated much faster. In most cases inmates would be restored to competence within 3-4 months versus waiting 4-6 months to get to a state hospital incompetency program and then another 3-4 months to regain competence. This shortened period of time will be a benefit to t...
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