City leaders in Chico are asking what role the county behavioral health department plays in providing services to homeless people.
Chico Mayor Andrew Coolidge claimed late last month that the county and state were making the problem of homelessness worse.
Scott Kennelly, the director of Butte County Behavioral Health, said there’s a myth he’d like to dispel: a majority of homeless people suffer from serious mental illness or are heavily addicted to drugs, and it’s the county’s responsibility to provide services to them. Kennelly said that’s not the case.
“Many, and if not the majority, are struggling with significant life events,” he said. “Like they had a disaster – the Camp Fire, COVID-19, job loss – they’re not necessarily severely mentally ill.”
The distinction – severely mentally ill – is important. Kennelly said people suffering from mild to moderate cases of mental illness must seek treatment through low-cost medical plans such as those provided by Anthem BlueCross and California Health & Wellness.
Kennelly said behavioral health departments are tasked with focusing on patients who are severely mentally ill, which many people camping in public spaces are not.
“But let’s just say even if they all were. The number one reason people get confused about behavioral health services is they believe that we have the power to pull people off the street and force them into treatment,” he said. “And that’s not in fact the case.”
Kennelly said most services Behavioral Health provides are voluntary. In fiscal year 2019-2020, the department handled more than 9,300 cases. That includes clients who received mental health services, crisis services, drug and alcohol services, and other types of help.
The county does serve homeless people, but most patients are either not homeless or are in stable housing.
He noted, however, that the longer people stay unsheltered, the more likely the possibility they develop substance-use disorders or chronic mental health problems.