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Meeting Date:	11/09/2020
Mental Health OT Grant Award Acceptance for the Webb Co. Sheriff's Office
Submitted for:	Martin Cuellar	Submitted By:	Anita Guerra
Department:	Sheriff

Subject:

Discussion and possible action to accept a Justice Assistance Grant Program (JAG) grant award as developed, written, presented, and submitted by the Webb County Sheriff’s Office to the Criminal Justice Division (CJD) Office of Governor (OOG) in the amount of $26,232.55 for overtime (OT) for officers working in the Mental Health Unit to assist and provide transport services to citizens undergoing emotional and/or mental health crises; authorizing the County Judge to enter into the grant agreement and to execute all relevant documents; and any other matters incident thereto. This grant does not require any type of match; and, thus will have no impact to the general fund. All required documents were sent to the Economic Development Department and were found in compliance with the Single Point of Contact (SPOC) policy. [Requested by Martin Cuellar, Webb County Sheriff; Grant Fund #2738]

Issue: The local Laredo/Webb County community continues to constitute a medically and mental health underserved area, which requires mentally ill youth and adults to travel to out-of-town facilities in order to receive these needed mental health services.

Solution: Grant award to provide overtime and applicable fringe benefits for the members of the Mental Health Unit to transport mental health patients to these out-of-town facilities so that they may receive the care that they require.

Result: Grant funding will allow members of the Mental Health Unit to undertake complex and time consuming activities and requirements, including execution of court orders, mental health commitments, and the actual transports to out-of-town mental health facilities, so that the mentally ill patients, their families, and the overall community can be better served.

Background:

Locally, there are very limited in-patient treatment/beds for mental health patients (only 16 beds) for a Laredo/Webb County population of over a quarter of a million.

Previous Court Action:

The submission of this grant was authorized by the Webb County Commissioners’ Court on 1/13/2020.

Fiscal Impact

Budget Account Number:	2738
Funding Source:	Grant Revenue
Balance:	Various
Financial Impact:
$26,232.55 grant funding for OT/Applicable FB for Mental Health Unit. Thus, there will be no impact to the general fund.