By Pat Jenkins The Dispatch Pierce County's mental health system will be evaluated in an independent study ordered by the County Council. A consultant will be hired to conduct an inventory this year of services and help identify where gaps exist, their impact on county services, and if the county should invest more resources. The council, in approving the plan last week, also asked County Executive Pat McCarthy to include funding for the study in her proposed budget for 2016 that she will present to the council later this year. Councilwoman Connie Ladenburg, a leading proponent of the study, has said there is "a mental health crisis in our community that is not currently being addressed by existing efforts." A thorough audit of services can help the decisionmaking process on possible improvements, she said. "The County has to stop ignoring this problem and blaming others for not stepping up. It is all of our responsibility to care for those who are least able to care for themselves,GÇ¥ Ladenburg said. In January, the council decided not to ask voters if they would pay more sales tax to help the mentally ill. The council had considered putting an advisory ballot measure in this November's general election that would have asked whether the county's sales tax should be raised one-tenth of 1 percent to provide funding for services for people who can't get help with mental health issues through medical plans. Reasons that the proposal was considered included an increasing number of people with mental issues being dealt with in hospital emergency rooms, jails and other facilities instead of receiving treatment that's specific to their conditions. The non-binding advisory vote would have gauged the public's level of support of tax dollars for services at the county jail for mentally ill inmates. The money also would have helped with the recruitment and training of mental health professionals. The council members' action Sept. 1 to authorize and independent study of the issue came a week after they rejected a proposal by Landenburg and Councilman Derek Young for a similar study by the county's Performance Audit Committee. The committee includes council members, citizens and the county's budget director. "There was certainly bipartisan support for the underlying intent" of the original proposal, but it wasn't "quite in its best form" until being changed into an independent, external study, Ladenburg said. "We said that this was a vitally important issue to Pierce County and we wouldn't give up on it that easily, and we didn't,GÇ¥ she added. The council approved the new approach 6-1. Councilman Jim McCune cast the dissenting vote.
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