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Extracted from Consolidated Report
This investigation was originally published as part of a larger consolidated report containing multiple investigations. View the consolidated PDF for the complete document.
Shasta County Grand Jury
• 2015-2016
room to an acute care room in the hospital. Mental health patients who have committed a crime will first be medically
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings 6 findings
F1
Page 35
There is a need for a Mobile Crisis Stabilization Team to reduce the strain on law enforcement and hospital emergency rooms, while providing vital care, support, and referrals to individuals and families experiencing a mental health crisis.
F2
Page 35
The stigma of mental illness contributes to the use of hospital emergency rooms to access mental health services, resulting in crowded emergency rooms, delayed treatment, and long waits for all patients seeking medical or mental health care.
F3
Page 35
The public, in particular families who are experiencing a first-time mental health crisis, is often not aware of available services at the Shasta County Mental Health walk-in clinic, resulting in lack of early intervention and treatment. 26
F4
Page 36
The Shasta County Mental Health walk-in clinic is not available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, resulting in the need to access care through hospital emergency rooms.
F5
Page 36
Law enforcement officers may or may not have received Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) beyond that received during their academy training. Continuing updated CIT education in the recognition of mental illness and de-escalation techniques could help prevent transporting patients to hospital emergency rooms or county jail.
F6
Page 36
There are only 16 adult psychiatric beds in Shasta County and none available for children. This results in delayed treatment, long waits in the emergency rooms, and separating patients from their support system. With the limited number of beds for adults and none for children, treatment time increases because of the time necessary for transporting patients outside Shasta County. COMMENDATIONS The Grand Jury commends Shasta County Mental Health Services for initiating its recent pilot program to co-locate county mental health evaluators in the two Redding hospital emergency departments. This program is intended to expedite the process of completing the mental health assessments and locating licensed psychiatric beds.
Recommendations 7
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R1Page 36The Grand Jury recommends that by December 31, 2016, the Board of Supervisors direct Shasta County Mental Health Services to develop a plan that provides a permanent Mobile Crisis Stabilization Team in partnership with law enforcement to address crisis situations in the field, utilizing new Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) funding.
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R2Page 36The Grand Jury recommends that by December 31, 2016, the Board of Supervisors adopts a plan with Shasta County Mental Health Services to establish a Mental Health Resource Center with expanded hours to provide support and counseling services.
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R3Page 36The Grand Jury recommends that by December 31, 2016, the Board of Supervisors directs Shasta County Mental Health Services to expand the hours of the Mental Health walk-in clinic, to include nights and weekends, until the proposed Mental Health Resource Center is open to the public.
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R4Page 36The Grand Jury recommends that by December 31, 2016, the Board of Supervisors directs Shasta County Mental Health Services to initiate an ongoing campaign to promote public awareness of current mental health services available to children and adults in Shasta County.
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R5Page 36The Grand Jury recommends that by December 31, 2016, the City of Redding City Council, City of Anderson City Council, and the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office each adopt a departmental policy that requires Crisis Intervention Training, at a minimum of every two years, for all law enforcement officers, beginning.
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R6Page 36The Grand Jury recommends that by December 31, 2016, the Board of Supervisors adopts a plan with Shasta County Mental Health Services to work with Restpadd and other interested providers to locate additional facilities in Shasta County that will increase the number of inpatient psychiatric beds for adults. 27
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R7Page 37The Grand Jury recommends that by December 31, 2016, the Board of Supervisors adopts a plan with Shasta County Mental Health Services with detailed action and implementation timelines to establish a facility in Shasta County providing inpatient psychiatric beds for children.