After some delays, State College-county mental health task force to issue report in June
While unexpected events caused delays for the State College-Centre County Mental Health Task force, the chairwoman says the group is on track to produce a report with recommendations by June.
Newly appointed task force chairwoman Patricia Best told State College Borough Council Monday night that in order to process all the information collected over the last several months, the task force is dividing into smaller groups to consider six key areas. They are:
- Mobile crisis services
- Delegate crisis services
- Involuntary commitment “302” warrant procedures
- Police officers’ role in responding to mental health calls and 302 warrants
- Emergency department procedures
- Post-emergency department services
Jim Fouts, a consultant working with the task force from Philadelphia Mental Health Care Corporation, completed over 50 interviews of people with experience navigating the county’s crisis services and mental health providers who work in or provide referrals for crisis services, said Best.
The death of former task force chairwoman Billie Willits in November after a battle with cancer delayed some of the task force’s information gathering, she said. Additionally, the task force decided to have Fouts conduct all interviews, rather than task force members, she said.
“I think the practice probably was a better decision to have a consistent person doing these interviews, rather than 30 people doing two interviews ... Hence, this has taken a longer time,” she said.
Funding for the task force’s duties, including the use of a consultant, comes from a $50,000 allocation State College Borough Council approved in August.
Over the next month, the group will focus on analyzing data it has collected through Fouts’ dozens of interviews and research into mental health crisis services. Fouts will also issue a separate report on his interviews.
During the analysis in March and some of April, Best said, task force working groups will each focus on four aspects that inform their piece of the county mental health crisis services: strengths of the county’s mental health system, gaps where it isn’t serving people adequately, opportunities to improve on or add things the county currently isn’t doing and any barriers to achieving improvements.
“Once we’ve completed that in April ... we’ll plot it out and share the information that we have,” she said. That will be the raw information, she said, used to make recommendations in the final report.
In April, the task force will ask for more information from community members, interviewing people it might have missed in the first round. It will also provide more opportunities for public input on the process and information the group has collected so far.
There are 30 task force members representing a diverse swath of Centre County mental health services users, providers and people who come in contact with the industry through their line of work. Representatives come from law enforcement, area school districts, health care providers, local government, nonprofit groups and private citizenry. A full list of task force members can be found at engagestatecollege.us.engagementhq.com/Task-Force.
Best said the report is on track to come out in June. Originally, the task force had said it would release a report in spring 2020, but did not specify the month.
“We want this (report) to be easy reading; we are going to spend time on the writing of these things,” said Best. “We expect to spend a good part at the end of April, May, June winnowing things, putting them together, into a report that’s accurate and thorough, but most of all, that we bring you things that are actionable.”
She said the report will likely focus on the four areas of each of the six aspects of mental health crisis services: strengths, gaps, opportunities and barriers.
Council member Evan Myers, who served as council president when the task force formed, said it was important to remember that the task force was formed, in part, in response to the shooting of 29-year-old Osaze Osagie by State College police officers who were serving an involuntary commitment “302” mental health warrant.
“It’s been almost a year since the shooting,” he said. “This council and this community certainly has made a commitment to work toward solutions and a more equitable approach to race and mental health. ... We have to be mindful why you’re here and what we’re about.”
This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 1:48 PM with the headline "After some delays, State College-county mental health task force to issue report in June."
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