Kiana, the mental health liaison for the Johnson County Sheriff's Office, and Ben Fjordelis, corrections social worker at the county jail, presented to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee on July 3 about their roles, service volumes and gaps in post-release continuity of care.

Their presentations detailed day-to-day crisis response, referral pathways and program outcomes, and prompted committee discussion about adding staff and expanding post-release case management to reduce repeat crises and improve continuity of care.

Kiana said her role pairs with law enforcement on 911 calls involving mental-health crises, suicide calls and related incidents; she provides on-scene de-escalation, safety planning, transportation assistance and follow-up care. Since starting in the role she reported 67 total dispatches and about 125 officer referrals. Of those, she said she stabilized about 41 dispatch calls in the community and 13 ended in hospitalization; for referrals she reported 108 stabilized in the community and 7 that ultimately resulted in hospitalization after follow-up. Kiana said the average time spent on a dispatch is a little over an hour and a half and that referral contacts average about 28 minutes. She covers countywide responses and has formal partnerships with Coralville and North Liberty police departments; follow-up services extend up to 45 days after an event.

"My goal is not to go and get them in trouble," Kiana told the committee when asked about confidentiality and whether her work could expose clients to criminal charges. She said she consults weekly with a clinical supervisor for case review and participates in coordinated meetings to discuss the highest-risk clients.

Ben Fjordelis described a jail-based corrections social-worker role that now meets with every person who stays from court and completes an intake pre-assessment that includes PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) screening, medical and mental-health questions. He said he conducts one-on-one meetings, crisis intervention, and referrals to outside resources such as the Abbey Center for psychiatric medication and Community Family Resources (CFR) for substance-evaluation telehealth services. Ben said he averages 40 to 50 meetings a month (about 500 meetings per year) and that from August through June his tracked referrals included roughly 40 Abbey Center referrals and 16 CFR substance-evaluation referrals; he also began tracking suicidal inmates in April and reported meeting with eight suicidal individuals in that period.

Both presenters and committee members discussed operational constraints: limited space in the jail for group programming, housing people out of county (which complicates follow-up), and funding uncertainty. Committee members and law enforcement representatives expressed support for adding a second liaison to provide overlap into late afternoon and evening hours; Brad and others encouraged exploring that option during next year’s budget process. The group also identified a gap in post-release case management — a sustained 45-day check-in period after release — and discussed whether additional staffing or partnerships could provide that continuity to reduce repeat crises and rebookings.

No formal motion or vote to add positions or change contracts was recorded during the meeting. Committee members asked staff to consider the staffing proposal and funding implications and to return with cost estimates and contract information; officials noted that regional funding had covered portions of liaison and nurse positions and that those arrangements had recently changed, making county budgeting decisions necessary.