TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Cochise County Board of Supervisors has approved a $1.2 million grant for the sheriff's office to use toward mental health initiatives.
With this money county, officials say inmates can get the help they need without having to travel outside of the county.
The nearest mental health facility from Cochise County Jail is 30 minutes away, where space is already limited.
Cochise County Sheriff’s Office Operations Commander Robert Watkins said the grant worth $1,263,449 will not only make resources more accessible, but it will also secure funding for inmates to choose where they get treatment.
“Sometimes we’ll have patients that will agree to self admit to let’s say a facility in Tucson, that say ‘you know I have history with...’ whatever the local one is, and they won’t self admit there,” he shared.
The funding will provide the county with three masters level behavioral health professionals, and a detention officer to transport individuals to wherever they need to go for treatment.
"So, our goal is to just have these professionals arrive, de-escalate the event, break down the root cause of what the mental crisis is, and try and service that person," Watkins clarified. "That person’s a victim of mental illness and we need to treat them like that."
He explained having these professionals to handle the situation is more effective, and it can make the crisis worse if unprepared officers are involved.
“That gives the person the ability to fixate on the uniform, and not necessarily the person,” Watkins said.
The funds granted through the Legacy Foundation of Southeast Arizona will provide mental health support for three years.
Watkins says there’s an increase in re-incarceration, and he hopes this proactive approach will prevent suffering from a mental health crisis.
“So, for every mental crisis we can prevent, that's one less we have to respond to,” he said.
The next step in getting this grant distributed is to hire a behavioral health professional to continue planning, which Watkins confirms they hope to do within the next few weeks.
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Reyna Preciado is a reporter for KGUN 9, she joined the KGUN 9 team in July of 2022 after graduating Arizona State University. Share your story ideas with Reyna by emailing reyna.preciado@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, or Twitter.
