Where Drew stands.

I have been asked in public forums, via email and Facebook, and while I'm out walking precincts about my opinion of the proposed mental health hospital at Clovis and Alluvial Avenues. I'm going to go into some detail, as this is not a simple "Yes or No" issue. Please bear with me.

As a law enforcement officer for over 40 years, I have significant history and knowledge on the issue of mentally ill persons. They come from all walks of life and backgrounds, and I have seen both personally and professionally the harm that untreated mental illness causes to the individual, their families, and sometimes to our society through acts of violence.

I also have a great deal of experience dealing with the homeless. While Clovis does not have a great deal of homeless persons, Fresno does and it bleeds over. As a Police Officer in Santa Barbara for 4 years (1980-1984) I had a significant amount of contact and dealings with violent, intoxicated and mentally ill homeless people on a daily basis most times.

It can be easy to dismiss this problem, until it ends up on your doorstep ... literally or figuratively. Being categorized as mentally ill or homeless comes with a societal stigma, and people with these issues need to be treated with respect, understanding and dignity.

I attended several Council meetings, and listened to the concerns of many, both pro and con, about this proposed facility. As I understand it, UHS has abandoned its project at the current location and is seeking another, more suitable, location. However, I think it's important for citizens to understand both my position and my thought process on this issue, as I live close to the proposed facility too. In fact, I may live too close to be permitted to cast a vote on this location due to the proposed site being within my statutory "conflict of interest" zone.

When I was the interim Chief of Police in Kingsburg, I dealt with a similar issue when a mental health corporation wanted to move into the vacant Kingsburg Hospital. We did our research, and the Police Department made several proposals that were incorporated into the eventual agreement. I attended several Planning Commission and City Council meetings and testified. I also addressed the concerns from some citizens and fielded their questions. The Kingsburg facility was a different kind of facility, it was a long-term care facility where a patient would stay for 3-9 months. It was approved and I spoke with the Kingsburg Chief (a friend) who said that the facility has been no problem at all.

This proposed facility is different. It is an acute care facility, where a patient in crisis comes either directly to the facility, or through an emergency room. The average stay is 7-9 days. They are then released when they are stabilized. I spoke with the representative for the developer, and he scheduled a visit to a similar UHS facility in Sacramento (right on 99 on the border of Elk Grove) and I took a day trip by myself to tour it.

The Sacramento facility looks similar to the care facility on Alluvial east of Willow. It appears to someone driving down the street as an office building or clinic, nothing that screams "mental hospital" or a correctional facility. This facility was built sometime in the late 1980's, and the neighboring area developed around it (not what we have proposed here.) It has controlled access and egress. The interior courtyards have "no climb" walls that would take Spiderman to get out of. It was clean, there were both medical and mental health professionals on staff, and it appeared to be well run. I spoke with the staff, and they answered my questions. I specifically asked about the release of homeless persons after treatment. UHS said that they are never released out the front door, they make arrangements for a bed in a shelter and drive them there. When I left, I considered having this specific type of facility in our city, and here were my concerns:

1. When dealing with a homeless person, can they make arrangements for them to go directly (voluntarily) to drug or alcohol treatment? Many homeless are what are referred to as "dual diagnosis" patients, mental health and addiction issues. If both aren't treated successfully, it causes a roller coaster effect which pushes them back into a mental health crisis cycle. Once the patient is stabilized mentally, they would be much more amenable to getting the next level of treatment. This seems to be the most holistic approach to resolve the problem.

2. Transporting the homeless to shelters in Sacramento is fine, but Fresno does not have sufficient shelters or "beds" for the homeless. (This is obviously a whole other issue.) In the event that a homeless person declines further treatment and refuses to go to a shelter, what then? Nothing keeps them from leaving the facility, after treatment, and making Clovis their new home, so to speak. This is a major concern for many citizens, including myself.

3. Would UHS consider making this an adolescent-only facility? Mental health issues affect our young, and we see that with the rise in teen suicide locally. Since teens would have a home to return to, we don't have to deal with the homeless issue. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for high school age youth. With the recent teen suicides in Clovis schools, having a local acute care facility with available bed space would be an imperative.

We absolutely need local mental health treatment facilities, and I think that Clovis needs to be part of the regional solution. We should not say "Isn't there a place in Fresno for this?" because, frankly, that's not fair. We are a city of almost 110,000, we need to be a major player in resolving all of our region's problems.

The lack of mental health "beds" is also one of the reasons that people have to wait in emergency rooms so long: the hospitals cannot by law transfer the mentally ill person to a "lesser care" facility, they have to wait for a "bed" to transfer them to. Thus, the bottle neck.

As with most real estate and planning issues, it's about the location. The proposed site is not the right location in my opinion. If another location was found, I would give it serious consideration but also listen to the concerns of our citizens.

There is a definite need for this type of facility because there are citizens in desperate need of care. We need to temper our concerns about this type of facility in our city with the need for compassion for the mentally ill and their families.

As your Councilmember, I will do the "homework" necessary on the important issues that affect our community. I have no problem getting in my car to go look at an issue because I'm a more visual learner, and some things cannot be properly described. There may come a time when my "Yes" or "No" may not be popular with everyone, that's the nature of governing. All I can promise is that I will make the best choice using thought and research.