County OKs Four Corners contract

Increase in homeless population reported during discussion
Carbon County commissioners approved a contract for services provided by Four Corners Community Behavioral Health for fiscal year 2019 on Wednesday.
A discussion of the contract and new programs introduced this year that have provided expanded services to Grand, Emery and Carbon counties occurred at the commission’s regular meeting.
Karen Dolan, Four Corners’ executive director, says her staff has responded to an increase in the homeless population here and in the tri-county area, mostly due to Operation Rio Grande, where Salt Lake City authorities last year dispersed that city’s homeless population.
“I know some areas, I know St. George has seen a big explosion of homeless,” Dolan said. “We have seen a lot more homeless. I go to Moab regularly, and there’s a lot of homeless in Green River, a lot more than ever before. I think they’ve tried to place them in treatment programs and kind of disperse them.”
Dolan said the surge hasn’t been huge here, but has increased.
“We do have a homeless grant and we serve maybe several dozen people each year that are homeless. We have seen an increase in homelessness. We really try to place them back in their community where they’re from, where they have support, where they have family,” she said.
One problem her organization continuously encounters, however, is the lack of space in residential treatment facilities.
“We have also had a really hard time placing people in residential treatment, in substance abuse treatment because they are all full because of the Rio Grande area. It’s definitely impacted our area,” Dolan said.
Another aspect of area mental health treatment that has recently been impacted is from the closure of Utah State Hospital’s short term treatment unit. Dolan said her organization hospitalizes about 95 patients a year from the tri-county area.
“We primarily use the state hospital for people with serious and persistent mental illness. But now that’s no longer available,” she said. “That may impact hospitalizations.”
As for new grant funded programs, Dolan told commissioners that Four Corners now offers a new suicide prevention program as well as a new services manager to assist in finding the right programs to fit patients’ needs. The group also has two new recovery coaches for people in addiction programs.
“These are people in recovery themselves, helping folks who are struggling with addiction and helping them get into services,” she said.
A new opioid treatment program is now helping about 30 people, with three to five new patients coming in for help a week.
Next on her agenda is telemedication services, a mental health first aid program, and sober living program.
Dolan says Four Corners personnel write about 35 grants a year to keep costs down for impacted counties.
In other county commission business:
—Commissioners approved an amendment to Four Corners’ juvenile services contract to reduce the need for county commission approval every time a juvenile in need of services appears.
—Commissioners approved the May 17 tax sale, where 11 parcels were sold to members of the public. The county waited to approve the sales until after the requisite two-week protest period was over.
—Commissioners tabled a $108,000 grant application for indigent defense funds, citing a need to further discuss whether the county can adhere to the standards required to accept the funds.
Christian Bryner, the county’s civil attorney said, if the county accepted the grant it would have to follow the indigent defense commission’s core principles and ethical standards. A person would also have to be designated to run the indigent defense program.
—Commissioners heard concerns from the clerk/auditor, Seth Oveson, that the county could face cash flow problems if it continued to front money for watershed and other Natural Resource Conservation Service projects. Oveson said the federal agency is slow to reimburse the county, which already has spent $2 million on such projects.