The following is a press release issued by the City of Fort Bragg:
A year and a half endeavor by Fort Bragg’s Homeless Ad Hoc Committee members, Vice Mayor Jessica Morsell-Haye, Police Chief John Naulty, City Manager Tabatha Miller and Mayor Bernie Norvell, along with Adventist Health Mendocino Coast Hospital (Adventist) and Redwood Community Services (RCS), to assess our community’s needs produced a plan for four Crisis Respite beds with twenty-four hour services in Fort Bragg. Crisis Respite offers a safe, comforting environment for those who are experiencing a temporary mental health crisis that does not require the individual be placed in a psychiatric hospital. The Mental Health Treatment Act Citizens Oversight Committee (aka Measure B Committee) unanimously endorsed the plan in late August, after Mark Myrtle, the 4th District’s appointee to Measure B Committee, introduced and endorsed the plan.
On September 28, 2021, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved $960,000 from Measure B funds for the plan. The Mendocino Coast Healthcare District threw its support behind the Crisis Respite beds by approving the sublease from Adventist to RCS for a behavioral health clinic at 516 E. Cypress Street, which will house the respite beds as part of the larger clinic. Currently, there is only one Crisis Respite program in Mendocino County located in the greater Ukiah area (the Crisis Residential facility currently under construction is also located in Ukiah). A key to successful mental health treatment is building a post-crisis support team, coordinating housing solutions, providing for warm handoffs to ongoing mental health services and connecting clients to medical services. All of those steps for success necessitate providing treatment, such as the Crisis Respite, close to the client’s home and family.
“The Crisis Respite beds will provide a much needed resource to our coastal community and a safe place to connect those in need of services with local assistance and treatment. I am thankful for all those who made this mental health tool available to our community.” Chief John Naulty
