FAYETTEVILLE -- The coronavirus pandemic has had little effect on the Northwest Arkansas Crisis Stabilization Unit, officials were told Friday.
"For the month of July, we seemed to be holding steady," Kristen McAllister, unit director, told members of Washington County's Criminal Justice Advisory Board.
The board includes elected officials like county judges, sheriffs, prosecuting attorneys, public defenders and circuit judges.
"For the month, we had 63 referrals, which is just up slightly from the previous three months," McAllister said. "From those 63 referrals, we had 33 who were admitted."
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McAllister said the the number of people admitted was down somewhat, adding the staff had noted that some people taken to the facility decided not to stay. Others were being evaluated by phone, with a staff member speaking to an officer, and then chose not to be sent to the unit.
The unit is a voluntary program meant to help people with mental-health issues avoid incarceration if they have come into contact with law enforcement agencies.
The state is funding four, 16-bed units as a pilot program. The other three units are in Little Rock (Pulaski County), Fort Smith (Sebastian County) and Jonesboro (Craighead County).
The Northwest Arkansas unit opened in 2019 with a service area including Benton, Carroll, Madison and Washington counties. The July report shows the highest number of people admitted, 26, were from Washington County. There were five people admitted from Benton County, and one each from Carroll and Madison counties.
The program is being expanded with larger service areas for each of the four units, and the Northwest Arkansas Unit is growing to serve Boone and Newton counties. McAllister said the unit had two referrals in July from Boone County, but neither was admitted.
Fayetteville Police Chief Mike Reynolds said his city and most others are working on their 2021 budgets and asked if there might be fees charged to cities when they take people to the units. Currently there are no fees.
Washington County Judge Joseph Wood said he did not foresee any fees being implemented.
"Your folks will still be able to bring them here without a cost to the city," Wood said.