Grand Jury Finds Best Rx for County’s Mental Health Is Money

There’s nothing wrong with San Diego’s mental health system that money couldn’t fix, the county Grand Jury said Tuesday.

This conclusion was no surprise to county officials, who were perplexed by the idea that they should pour nonexistent money into solving the problems.

“It’s one area in which we are suing the state,” said David Janssen, assistant chief administrative officer. “By their own legislative analysis, we’re $13 million below the average of (mental health funding in) other counties--which is why we are not able to provide the programs that other counties do, and that we believe are necessary.”

Although it made several recommendations for improvement, the report overall gave good marks for the county’s new psychiatric hospital for its “newness, the physical design and colors, the feeling of openness and the overall caring atmosphere.”

The grand jury report had three recommendations for the county’s board of supervisors:

* Develop residential facilities for independent living by the chronically mentally ill.

* Provide funds to operate a 13-bed crisis unit at the new mental health hospital on Rosecrans. The unit has never opened because of lack of money.

* Raise salaries for mental health staffers so it won’t be so hard to recruit employees.

The recommendations by the grand jury are advisory in nature.

The report also recommends that the county’s mental health division open an inpatient psychiatric unit at Las Colinas women’s jail, and that it develop programs where mentally ill people who are also substance abusers can be treated.