Law enforcement part of Sedgwick County's Comcare privatization debate

Sheriff’s deputies and police officers are often the first to interact with people on the street who are in a mental health crisis – crime or no.

They often call on a different type of backup.

Local law enforcement agencies have made more than 1,000 referrals for mental health services offered through Comcare this year.

They say they have worked over the years to collaborate more with the county-run mental health department. And some of them worry that the potential privatization of Comcare would put those relationships in flux.

Sedgwick County recently released a draft request asking for proposals from nonprofits to run some or all of Comcare’s services.

“There are some serious questions that would have to be answered before I’d be comfortable with this,” Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter said. “And right now, I’m comfortable with the way Comcare does business with law enforcement. It works.”

Commissioners are split on whether turning Comcare services over to a nonprofit would affect that collaboration to improve public safety.

“It is conceivable that someone in the private sector could provide better services, more services or less costs,” commissioner Jim Howell said.

‘Daily contact’

Mental health counselors and law enforcement officers often deal with the same people, so working together is a necessity, county law enforcement officials say.

“There’s a sizable percentage of individuals in the criminal justice system who have a mental health issue,” Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said.

Comcare “is not an outlier player in what we do everyday,” he said. “It’s an agency that has daily contact with the criminal justice system.”

Around 30 percent of inmates in the county jail have mental health issues, Easter said.

Comcare services can also help de-escalate mental health crises and keep people out of police custody or jail, said Jason Scheck, Comcare director of outpatient services.

“The ultimate diversion from the criminal justice system is access to mental health services,” Scheck said.

Comcare also offers mental crisis training to law enforcement officers, including county sheriff’s deputies or Wichita police officers.

“It’s an overview of recognizing and responding to folks in psychiatric crises, substance abuse crises, developmental disabilities or with aging issues,” Scheck said. “It’s a really comprehensive in-depth training for 40 hours.”

Bennett said Comcare helps the courts by determining whether defendants are mentally competent to stand trial.

Most county juvenile and adult detention programs have Comcare staff in the same building. They help calm down emotional or upset parolees in ways a parole officer cannot, said County Corrections Director Mark Masterson.

“Having Comcare available two offices down is very beneficial in responding to that situation,” Masterson said.

The jail houses a mental health pod, which provides treatment to inmates with the most serious mental health issues.

“They get additional mental health care. They get additional time with the psychologists,” Easter said. “They get group therapy and so many other traditional things you see in a mental health care facility.”

Mentally ill inmates are now assessed by Comcare shortly before their release, Easter said. Before that was done, inmates would regress after leaving and end up back in jail.

“We would see people cycle through here every 30 or 60 days because it was that same roller coaster,” Easter said.

Scheck said communication between Comcare and law enforcement has gradually improved over the past decade.

“I think before we had some of these collaborations and trainings in place, staff from the different systems didn’t understand the other system very well,” Scheck said.

Masterson said Comcare mental health staff members and services are deeply imbedded in local criminal justice agencies.

“A sudden change wouldn’t just pick up that kind of service and quality that we depend on and trust,” Masterson said.

‘An open mind’

Any mental health contract with a nonprofit would need to include everything Comcare currently does with law enforcement, Easter said.

“It’s been my experience with private entities that if it’s not in the contract, they’re not going to do it, and so that’s what scares me a little bit about this,” Easter said.

Bennett said any decision on Comcare needs to made cautiously and carefully.

“We need to ensure ourselves that any plan is truly an improvement,” Bennett said.

A majority of commissioners asked in June for the draft proposal to shift mental health services to a nonprofit. They say it’s healthy to explore other options.

“We would be irresponsible if we wouldn’t explore ways of potentially coming up with more value in the spending of taxpayer dollars,” commissioner Karl Peterjohn said.

Some commissioners say nonprofits may run Sedgwick County’s community mental health center better than the county department.

“There are other people out there that have expertise, that are interested potentially in providing these services,” Howell said.

Howell said commissioners won’t make changes until county corrections, the district court, the sheriff’s office and the district attorney’s office are all on board. The draft proposal says if mental health services are privatized, “collaborative and cooperative relationships must continue” with law enforcement partners.

“I want them to have an open mind and be willing to consider options that might come to us,” he added, referring to agency leaders.

Commissioners Tim Norton and Dave Unruh are opposed to privatizing Comcare, saying the county has built a good community resource.

Norton said he doubts “a bunch of fragmented nonprofits can do better than we’ve done ourselves.”

Unruh said the strong relationship between local law enforcement and mental health professionals could become less effective.

“Comcare plays a really important part in dealing with … offenders appropriately, holding down costs, keeping the jail population down, keeping people out of the court system, relieving the load on the district attorney’s office,” Unruh said.

Howell said the request to nonprofits could be finalized within a couple of weeks.

If a majority of county commissioners approves Comcare’s privatization, the transition would take about a year.

This story was originally published September 21, 2015 at 7:17 PM with the headline "Law enforcement part of Sedgwick County's Comcare privatization debate."