On Friday Fairbanks Mayor Mindy O’Neall announced a goal to establish a behavioral health court in Fairbanks to help divert individuals with mental health disorders away from incarceration and into community treatment.
O’Neall made the announcement along with representatives from Tanana Chiefs Conference, Fort Wainwright, Northern Hope Center, Fairbanks Integrated Community Services and National Alliance on Mental Illness Fairbanks.
“While we must continue to hold accountable criminal behavior, we recognize that untreated mental health illness often sets at the center of repeated low-level offenses, chronic crisis responses, homelessness, addiction and incarceration,” O’Neall said. “When people do not have treatment, the cycle continues for individuals, families and the entire community.”
O’Neall said a behavioral health court would help “strive to break the trauma of incarceration cycle and support a continuity of care.”
“Mental health courts across the state and country have shown that when accountability is paired with structured treatment, supervision and support services, outcomes improve dramatically,” O’Neall said.
O’Neall noted that mental health challenges have taken an economic toll in the state. She noted the state’s high rate of depression, suicide, substance misuse, trauma and anxiety “cost the state, employers, and residents billions of dollars annually” in direct health expenditures and loss in workplace productivity.
A 2020 report sponsored by the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority highlighted that substance misuse along (drugs and alcohol) cost the state economy $3.5 billion annually. About $1.3 billion of that cost was on health services. A loss of workplace productivity, whether from absenteeism, high turnover rates or other issues, resulted in $1.1 billion in lost economic activity.
In the last four years, the City of Fairbanks has sponsored or coordinated services to help address some gaps in service. This includes the Fairbanks Fire Department’s community paramedic program, a rescoped Emergency Services Patrol operated by Fairbanks Integrated Community Services and the mobile crisis teams operated by Alaska Behavioral Health.
“But we have to be honest about the reality that there are still major gaps in the system,” O’Neall said. “We cannot arrest, ignore or out-tough a mental health crisis. We need more coordination, more treatment access, early prevention and community education.”
Sharon Hildebrand, chief/chairman of Tanana Chiefs Conference agreed on the need “to strengthen the support system that people rely on during some of their most difficult times.”
“Mental health touches all of us,” Hildebrand said. “It deserves our attention, care and compassion.”
TCC serves 42 villages and 18,000 tribal members, including 12,500 who live in the Fairbanks area. Its services include medical, behavioral health, crisis support, counseling and substance abuse treatment.
“It’s okay to ask for help, because you’re not alone,” Hildebrand said.
Lane Delventhal, Northern Hope Center’s board president, said he’s an example of someone who struggled with mental health challenges. A Fairbanks transplant in 1984, Delventhal said the Northern Hope Center programs changed his life for the better.
The center is currently renovating a building to expand its programs, which include peer support, behavioral health support, case management, recovery-focused activities, meals, resource navigation, supported employment, health protection services, substance use treatment referrals, and connection to community supports.
He asked that people show compassion for those who struggle with mental illness or conditions and to remove any stigma attached to it.
Anthony Mosinski, chief executive of Fairbanks Integrated Community Services, noted that anyone can struggle with mental health, whether caused by personal or work-related issues.
“There are resources and I firmly support any effort to collaborate better,” Mosinski said.
O’Neall said mental health courts aren’t a new idea. The Alaska Court System utilizes a mental health court in Anchorage, Juneau and Palmer as part of the system’s Therapeutic Courts programs.
The Therapeutic Courts also utilizes models such a wellness court and veteran’s justice court, both of which are present in Fairbanks. O’Neall cited Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority data that the Therapeutic Courts programs saved people from a combined 150 years of jail time in a single fiscal year, avoiding $8.7 million in incarceration costs for the Department of Corrections.
“Think what $8.7 million into our economy can do for other things,” O’Neall said. She noted diverting low-level offenses connected to mental illness “triggers a positive effect across the state.”
“Our goal is to build a coordinated system where eligible individuals struggling with serious mental health challenges can be connected to treatment plans, case management, court supervision and community resources designed to support long-term success instead of repeated crisis,” O’Neall said.
She acknowledged setting such a program up in Fairbanks won’t occur overnight.
“It will require collaboration, funding, training and continued partnerships across organizations and agencies,” O’Neall said. “The conversations happening today are laying the foundation for something that could change lives for years to come.”
O’Neall told the News-Miner after the event that a Fairbanks mental health court is still in its early stages.
“So far, we have talked with the district attorney’s office, we’ve got some interest from some local judges and our attorney has previous experience in mental health courts,” O’Neall said. “That is where our conversations have started. We are setting up the framework right now. It just needs coordination and initiative.”