RENO, Nev. (KOLO) – The Washoe County Board of Commissioners has voted to approve funding for jail based mental health care.
A grant of $15 million from the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services will enable the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office to continue the program through June 2027.
The original grant of $5.8 million was approved in April 2024, and an additional $9.9 million was approved on Tuesday.
The program brings specialized mental health treatment to certain individuals incarcerated at the Washoe County Detention Facility. The program will be extended to include competency restoration services in accordance with Nevada law
The county says the program is likely to reduce the time individuals spend in the jail by directly providing them with mental health treatment and competency restoration. The county says this will also reduce the wait for services at Lake’s Crossing, the state operated maximum security psychiatric facility.
“During the Special Legislative session, I don’t think that people know that the County was awarded $7.5 million in General Funds to help with our Jail Based Mental Health program, and I know that a lot of work went into that,” Chair Hill said. “I want to say congratulations, and we’re so thrilled that we got that funding.”
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