FAYETTEVILLE -- The Northwest Arkansas Crisis Stabilization Unit can't open until a new medical services provider is found, again leaving law enforcement with few options for people they encounter who have mental health issues.
The 16-bed facility is operated as an alternative to jail. Participation is voluntary for those treated, who have encounters with law enforcement officers for creating disturbances, trespassing or other such disruptions because of their conditions, officials said.
The center received 1,200 referrals in the two years it was open, and 755 of those were admitted to the facility, according to the former health provider.
The center closed June 30, Washington County attorney Brian Lester said.
Any new provider would operate the center for about $43,000 per month less in state funding than the original contractor, Ozark Guidance, received. That amounts to an almost 33% cut in state money, from $133,000 per month to $90,000.
The state in May offered $52,800 in regular funding plus additional funding for the next two years to raise the total to $90,000 a year in state taxpayer money for the Washington County Stabilization Unit for each of the next two years. The additional funding was approved because of the challenges of running the unit during a pandemic. The governor's office said Friday that the $90,000 figure was calculated based on what these centers should also receive from other sources, including private insurance payments.
Ozark Guidance is a nonprofit behavioral health company. The company is willing to fully cooperate with any new provider but cannot absorb a cut of $43,000 a month and still operate the center, president Laura Tyler said Friday.
Filling that kind of revenue drop by billing insurers would require more patients who stay longer, Tyler said. The unit would have to keep more of its beds occupied while providing more intensive treatment. It isn't staffed, equipped or designed to do that, she said. Other facilities are designed to handle more severe cases for longer periods, she said.
"We also had other added costs that weren't planned for," Tyler said. Transporting unit clients, for instance, proved to be a greater than expected expense.
"We are still passionate about jail diversion, but we could not make those figures work," she said. She praised local law enforcement and court officials for their participation.
Northwest Arkansas law enforcement agencies can refer cases to the stabilization center at the Western Arkansas Counseling and Guidance Center in Fort Smith.
Referrals there from Benton or Washington counties can mean a three-hour round trip for the officers involved under the best of circumstances, law enforcement officers and the Fort Smith stabilization center's director said.
"It's just not practical" to take people suffering mental health emergencies to Fort Smith from Northwest Arkansas, said Jay Cantrell, chief deputy of the Washington County sheriff's office. The office operates the county's jail.
"Even if a department has the people to spare to make the drive to Fort Smith, being in the back of a police car for an hour is not going to help stabilize anybody," Cantrell said.
A Benton County sheriff' office spokeswoman agreed, pointing out that every law enforcement jurisdiction in Benton County is farther from Fort Smith than Washington County agencies are.
Arkansas opened four, 16-bed crisis stabilization units as a pilot program through June 2021. The crisis unit in Sebastian County opened in March 2018. The Pulaski County unit opened in August 2018. The Northwest Arkansas unit opened in June 2019, and the Craighead County unit opened in October 2019.
The state paid the operating costs of the units through June while evaluating the program's effectiveness.
The crisis stabilization units in Pulaski and Sebastian counties both had reductions in funding, but not to the extent of the Northwest Arkansas unit. Those units' state funding was cut from the $133,000 per month level to about $110,000.
According to the governor's office, funding levels for each unit were based on information about expenses and reimbursement at those units.
The Craighead County unit is still in the initial two-year funding period so has not had any cuts so far. Its level of state funding will decrease Oct. 31. The unit won't be able to continue operation after Oct. 31, operator Mid-South Health Systems announced May 25.
CORRECTION: The state offered $52,800 in regular funding plus additional funding for the next two years to raise the total to $90,000 a year in state taxpayer money for the Washington County Stabilization Unit for each of the next two years. The additional funding was approved because of the challenges of running the unit during a pandemic. An earlier version of this story did not explain that the additional funding was always part of the state’s proposal for the unit.