Benton and Franklin County commissioners took steps Monday to put the bicounty Crisis Response Unit, substance abuse assessment and detox center under one roof.
The two boards unanimously agreed to allow the Benton Franklin Community Action Center to act as the lead agency to develop a plan for the consolidated crisis response center.
The two boards met jointly at the Benton County Justice Center to consider the proposal.
Bringing everything under one roof would be more effective for the people providing and receiving the services by eliminating the need to shuttle someone from one facility to another, and take the risk a client doesn't complete the journey.
It also would give law enforcement officers a place to bring people who may be better off getting mental health treatment than being put in jail. That would include only people who commit nonviolent crimes, said Carrie Huie-Pascua, director of the bicounty Human Services Department.
Currently, separate detox and crisis response services each operate 24/7.
But until recently, there was no way to handle someone who was both mentally ill and a substance user. They went to either crisis response or detox, but not both.
The detox center now employs three full-time counselors and a supervisor certified for both mental health and chemical dependency treatment, Huie-Pascua said.
Commissioners from both counties have been talking about the consolidated crisis response center concept for two years, but the idea never gained any traction or funding until now.
Tri-City businessman Carl Cadwell has promised to buy the land and pay for construction of the building, which he then would lease to CAC. CAC in turn would lease space to whichever agencies come under the building's roof.
"My interest here is to help create a healthy community," Cadwell said of his pledge. "Mental health is a huge problem, a growing problem."
Cadwell helped create a similar project to pull together employment agency offices into the Worksource center, which he described as a tremendous success.
Ongoing funding remained a question, but not an obstacle, Monday. Benton County Commissioner Max Benitz said he has reservations about building the center until he sees financial information. But Benitz agreed the center is a good idea.
And Franklin County Commissioner Neva Corkrum said she thinks the region needs a consolidated crisis response center, but wonders how the counties will pay for it.
Cricket Cordova, a CAC manager, said the agency will answer that question and more once a feasibility study is done.
"It's my goal to not only show you how you can afford to do it, but how you can't afford not to do it," Cordova said.
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