03 March 2014 (05:13 UTC-07 Tango)/01 Jumada l-Ula 1435/12 Esfand 1392/03 Ding-Mao 4712

“…..they unknowingly overmedicated him. He went into a psychotic episode. And they couldn’t transfer him to another facility unless he was restrained and accompanied by police. Law enforcement finally had to transport him for four hours to the closest facility, and when he came off of the drug, he wonder where he was and what the heck had happened. This is just one example of something that got out of control and shouldn’t have.”-Michelle Stennett, state Senator from Ketchum

“This is not getting better. We need to do something.”-Dick Armstrong, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, commenting on the  growing number of Crisis Calls

Apparently the bad economy is taking a mental toll on the people of Idaho, yet the crony capitalist leaders don’t see it that way.  They believe it’s a failure in how police respond, and the answer is to create three massive jails, I mean mental health centers called Crisis Centers.

According to Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (IDHW), the number of calls from people in ‘distress’ have gone way up.  In Idaho these distress cases are called Crisis Calls, and can range from people who are just upset over their situation (like unemployment) to people actually suffering a mental breakdown, or even someone who’s been labeled a terrorist (aka “mental holds” aka “a threat to themselves or others”).  The police handle Crisis Calls.

IDHW officials say that specifically, the biggest increase in Crisis Calls is something the cops call “mental holds” (a possible danger to themselves or others), but sometimes this turns out to be people overly intoxicated.  Cops give a mental hold the option of going to jail or a stay in a hospital until they detox.  There is no long term mental care for the average person in Idaho.

The only stat I’ve seen, so far, is that Boise cops respond to as many as 20 Crisis Calls everyday,  which is a little high compared to the rest of Idaho.  I’d like to know the stats for the rest of Idaho, as the population drops way off from the ‘Boise area’.  It would suck that we taxpayers are actually footing the bill for a project that’s really meant to benefit Boise.

That project is Senate Bill 1352, which has already passed the Senate and is likely to pass the House.   At an estimated cost to overburdened taxpayers of an estimated $5-million, it would create three Crisis Centers, one in Boise, one in Idaho Falls and one in Coeur d’Alene.

Here’s an interesting catch; police (supposedly) can’t force anybody into a Center, it’s totally voluntary.  The idea is to provide a place for people feeling stressed out to get long term help, because there is no such service in Idaho, unless you’ve got lots-o-money to hire a professional counselor or attend an expensive privately funded clinic.

Perhaps the real motivator for these Crisis Centers is Obama Care, because under Obama Care people are supposed to have access to affordable mental health care, and right now Idaho has no such thing (unless you meet Idaho’s draconian standards for Medicaid).  So it looks like we Idaho taxpayers are getting double, triple taxed because of that great Affordable Health Care plan.