>>Saline County approves ARPA funding for mental health responders

A pilot program, which includes two mental health specialists as co-responders with law enforcement, is set to begin in Saline County.

The program will be funded using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money that was given by the federal government through what is called the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Relief Fund (CLFRF).

Saline County, through surveys and a town hall discussion in July 2021, received feedback from the community about how CLFRF money should be spent, with criminal justice and public safety being a high priority of those who took part in the feedback.

County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes said for criminal justice and public safety, the county wanted to make sure that other community needs would be addressed, so it went a step further than some of the other areas that the community put priority on.

“We went out and did a needs assessment with our consultant,” Smith-Hanes said. “One of the major findings of that study…is the interplay between the mental health system and public safety and criminal justice.”

Smith-Hanes said the co-responder pilot program is one of the ways to assist in this interplay between the two systems by hiring the positions to work with law enforcement.

“(They) would go out on calls with Salina (Police Department) and the Saline County Sheriff’s Office when a mental health need is suspected based upon the call into dispatch,” Smith-Hanes said.

The administrator said these kinds of positions are becoming more prevalent in the country as communities are understanding this interplay of mental health and public safety and criminal justice. Hutchinson has noticed success from a similar program.

“There are several jurisdictions in Kansas, mostly the larger counties, that have programs in place already,” Smith-Hanes said.

As a program that deals with public health, the Saline County Health Department is set to be the sponsoring agency for this program, with Smith-Hanes saying the department would take care of the administration of it.

Smith-Hanes said this program would run for two years, with the county offering just under $200,000 of ARPA funding to put it in place.

“That (amount) would not quite fully fund the program for two years, so we would be looking at the City of Salina for a potential match since one of these folks would be dedicated to Salina PD,” Smith-Hanes said. “I have had preliminary conversations with the city manager and they are on board with the idea that there would be a match coming from the city.”

Potential for the responders to continue after the two years

When this program was presented to the Saline County Board of Commissioners, they asked what the status of this program would be after the two years concluded.

“When the money’s gone, do we then bring these people on as an additional cost to the county?” Commissioner Bob Vidricksen asked.

Smith-Hanes said because this is specifically labeled as a “pilot program,” the county is not obligated to continue it beyond the two years.

“We’re saying ‘you’ve got two years to prove whether this works or not,'” Smith-Hanes said.

In addition to proving if the program works, the administrator said the program would seek to find additional to continue beyond the two years.

“If the program is successful then the idea is it might help the community and there might actually be some cost savings we might be able to tap into,” Smith-Hanes said.

Because of this need across the country and this additional funding given to other jurisdictions by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Authority (SAMHSA), the county is hopeful that funding from other sources to help fund it.

With approval by the County Commission, the next step to implement the program will be for the City of Salina to approve matching funds after which the two co-responders can be hired.