SOUTH BEND — It came in the final meeting of the year Tuesday. St. Joseph County commissioners halted — at least for now — an effort to establish a behavioral crisis center that many public officials and agencies have been working on intensively for the past two years.
Commission President Carl Baxmeyer removed the crisis center’s final approval from Tuesday’s agenda, then refused to put it back after 32 people spoke in favor of it at that meeting.
One of the most impassioned pleas came from South Bend Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski.
December 2022:St. Joseph County mental health crisis team coming along, still sent on fraction of calls
If the crisis center had been in place, he told commissioners, “Probably my cousin wouldn’t be in the ICU as of two days ago,” noting a mental health issue.
He said police have been seeking the community’s help with mental health issues for at least three years. His department deals with 800 to 1,200 calls per year that are related to mental health, but the actual number, he said, is likely “a lot higher,” hidden for example in random cases of theft and vandalism.
Copyright © 2024, South Bend Tribune