CM Narcisse on Bellevue outposted therapeutic unit operations
Narcisse asks about the Bellevue Outposted Therapeutic Unit opened in April. Yang reports 95 people currently housed at over 90% occupancy, with strong staff and patient responses. Katz notes cost savings from eliminated transport and encourages Council members to visit.
The Bellevue Outpost Therapeutic Unit opened this past April.
We spoke about it earlier.
What update information do you have to share on operation of the new unit since its opening?
It's going really well, thank you.
Going well?
April 8th, we brought our first group of patients in.
The first group were the people who had mental health and medical issues.
Again, we're over 90% at this point in time in occupancy, and people still are coming in.
The staff are responding really well.
The patients are really responding very, very well.
It's made a big difference in all fronts.
That's a sidebar.
Do you save money?
I think you save more money by actually putting people where they're supposed to.
That's in my head.
There are definitely, we think, savings because, for one thing, you don't have the transport costs for people who need specialty care, right?
It's very, they have to come on a bus, right?
They have to, you need deputies to escort them.
But I think and I hope all members of the city council will come and visit the outposted unit because it really shows you that you can have correctional health done in a humane setting.
Right, that having an inhumane setting is not needed.
The point of correctional settings is either to, well, ideally to rehab people, but or to if you're making a decision that this person at this moment has to be punished in this way.
But that doesn't mean that they have to be in cages.
Right, and you can really see the difference in the outposted unit, and I think that difference has affected the behavior of the detainees as well as the staff.
Thank you.
How many individuals are currently being housed in the unit, at the unit right now?
As of this moment, 95 people.
95.
The budget for the unit is $7.7 million in fiscal 2026 and $8 million in fiscal 2027.
Do you anticipate any funding increase for the unit?
So we have some funding, discrete funding for Bellevue where we reimburse the hospital
for services, basic services, some of the custodial, laundry, food, things like that that we buy from Bellevue, as well as to reimburse Bellevue for the specialty services that they provide on unit.
To us.
So that the hospital is not affected just badly.
Okay.