Counties and law enforcement press IFC to fund jail‑based restoration and mental‑health services; committee approves ARPA transfer

County and law‑enforcement officials told the Interim Finance Committee on June 16 they need continued state support to sustain jail‑based competency restoration and related services. Committee members approved a package of ARPA work programs that transferred $2,939,148 in savings and increased authority by $2,900,000 to continue jail‑based programming for forensic clients.

Public comment and presenters Joanna Jacob of Clark County told the committee Clark County supports items D1 and D7, describing a jail‑based competency program that partners the county and the state to restore competency and provide pre‑forensic medical care to inmates.

Captain Josh Martinez of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said the Clark County detention center program averages daily assistance to 56 people and reported a restoration rate figure (presenter said 67% as part of his remarks) while noting staffing vacancies; he offered to provide further statistics to the committee.

Cadence Matejevich of Washoe County echoed the request and tied the funding need to the recent passage of AB 467, saying continued funding would optimize services built through state‑county partnerships.

Division of Public and Behavioral Health overview Dina Schmidt, administrator for the Division of Public and Behavioral Health, described the work programs as moves to transfer approximately $2.94 million in ARPA savings into accounts that support southern Nevada forensic hospital accounts and jail‑based programming for forensic clients. She said savings came from time‑limited programs (nurse apprenticeship, skilled nursing beds for forensic patients) and that the division intends to use available ARPA funds to support the jail‑based programming.

Questions about wraparound and related services Senator Neal and other committee members pressed presenters on related wraparound services for youth and families. Marla McDade Williams (Division of Child and Family Services) described a separate wraparound initiative (a care‑management pilot led by Magellan Healthcare) that enrolled about 124 youth but noted outreach and engagement challenges: DCFS records presented in testimony showed roughly 578 referrals, of which 451 were closed without services provided. She said the vendor contract structure and the difficulty of getting families to commit to high‑intensity services limited effective service provision and the division had revised contracts and oversight to improve provider networks and engagement.

Vendor perspective Dan Musgrove of Magellan Healthcare said the program has engaged with hundreds of families and that high‑intensity services require a 30–90 day family commitment that many families cannot maintain. He said Magellan passes most funds to providers and that the program was a pilot, not yet achieving initial projected caseloads — in part because the program started small (Clark and Elko counties) and only recently went statewide.

Committee decision and next steps The committee approved the D1/D2/D6/D7/D8 package (which includes the $2.9 million increase for jail‑based programming) by voice vote. Presenters committed to provide additional program data and clarify provider billing and contract details in writing to committee fiscal staff.

Ending: The vote keeps ARPA‑funded jail‑based restoration work and pilot wraparound programs funded in the near term, with the committee requesting follow‑up documentation and performance metrics.