UKIAH, CA., 9/18/24 – The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution last week to allow the county to use $7 million of Measure B funds to construct the behavioral health wing at the Mendocino County Jail. It was not anticipated that Measure B funds would be needed, but the combination of rising construction costs and the pandemic has left the county short-pocketed on the project, which is already underway.
The resolution states that the county must replenish Measure B funds in 10 years including an interest rate of 2.5% at a yearly repayment schedule. The proposal was voted on 4-1, with 5th District Supervisor Ted Williams voting against it, arguing that he supported the concept of the plan but not the interest rate.
“I was supportive of the county using Measure B funds,” Williams told the Mendocino Voice. “But I’m not comfortable that when the funds get paid back the amount of interest won’t give [us] the same buying power.” Williams added that because of the added costs of the interest and repayment plan, there won’t be sufficient funds to construct a substance abuse center in Ukiah.
“It’s one of the last components of Measure B we haven’t fulfilled,” he said. “When the money is paid back, it won’t be enough to accomplish the original mission.”
The behavioral health project’s construction began in February — and is planned to be finished in January 2026. The new health unit will contain three medical exam rooms, a dental office, and small programming rooms for therapy and consultations. There will be six new inmate housing units. Some units can accommodate five inmates each, while others will have the capacity to house up to 13.
There will also be three secure outdoor exercise yards available to the unit’s inmates.
Measure B, a sales tax measure which was passed in 2017, approved a 0.5% tax increase for five years and decreased to 0.125% thereafter. It was guaranteed to fund mental health resources throughout the county. Measure B funds have assisted several mental health care facilities such as the Crisis Residential Treatment Facility in Ukiah, the Fort Bragg Crisis Respite Center, and the Behavioral Health Regional Training Center in Redwood Valley. In August, Mendocino County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services also broke ground on a new psychiatric health facility in Ukiah. Â
Mendocino County has one of the highest suicide rates in all of California, according to a California Health Care Foundation report. According to a U.S.News & World Report, 17.4% of adults in the county have frequent mental distress. For incarcerated people, these kinds of issues are exacerbated when there aren’t sufficient mental health resources.
Captain Gregory Van Patten, of the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, said that a behavioral health facility is crucial for inmates suffering from severe mental illness.
“Mental health brings a significant challenge, especially in a correctional facility setting,” Van Patten said. “The behavioral health unit is going to serve those that need mental health services and more of our geriatric population that have medical needs.”
For the construction of the behavioral health wing, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office received a grant from the Board of State and Community Corrections for $25 million in 2017; the grant required the county to contribute $1.1 million of its own funds. The unit was set to be finished in December 2021, but then the COVID-19 pandemic happened, and the cost of building supplies increased, both of which slowed down construction. While construction costs increased, the grant money did not.
“Over the course of time the county has been able to put in reserves of money,” Van Patten said. But the county couldn’t provide the entire amount needed to complete the project. “That’s what’s resulted in other funding requests.”
Meanwhile, the county has tried to help inmates with mental illnesses as best as it can, but hospitals are often at capacity and don’t have sufficient space for inmates who need treatment. According to Sheriff Van Patten, the sheriff’s department contracted with the Department of State Hospitals in 2019 to implement the Jail Based Competency Treatment Program, which allows care providers to come into jails to assist individuals with debilitating mental or physical conditions. With that revenue contract, the sheriff’s office hired medical providers through NaphCare, a healthcare company based in Alabama.
“When you have someone with a medical condition, they decompensate even further,” Van Patten said. He said that the contracted program has helped inmates get the care they need much faster. “We are now returning individuals to competency in our facility quicker than we would if we had to wait for a bed [in a state hospital] to come available.”
He emphasized that although the jail’s purpose is not to provide medical care, the facility often acts as a de facto mental healthcare facility for incarcerated people in Mendocino County.
“[The jail is] operating as a kind of psychiatric facility, and we can provide these services that can help our behavioral health population,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s about providing a service to someone who needs it.”
Why aren’t we putting this money into medical care and places to help our SMI Population? Jail only makes the Brain Illness worse. They need better than a jail cell and court ordered medication!!