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Benton County outlines plan to stand up behavioral health deflection program with $231,000 from HB 4002
Summary
County staff and partners reported progress on a behavioral health 'deflection' program funded by House Bill 4002 (~$231,000 to Benton County), described eligibility and services, and set a tentative operational date of Jan. 1, 2025 pending final Criminal Justice Commission allocations and hiring a program coordinator.
Benton County commissioners heard a multi-agency update Wednesday on plans to use a one-time state appropriation from House Bill 4002 to launch a behavioral health deflection program aimed at diverting people with low-level substance-related offenses away from the criminal-justice track and into services.
Rick Krager, who has been coordinating the county’s work on the grant, told commissioners the county’s short application to the Criminal Justice Commission cleared an initial 50% review and the full application was submitted on July 1. Benton County is scheduled to receive about $231,000 under HB 4002, Krager said, and the money is intended primarily to establish a program coordinator position and the infrastructure to coordinate law enforcement, the district attorney’s office, and behavioral-health partners.
Krager described a draft…
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