There are two street outreach programs in Humboldt County that work with people with significant behavioral health issues. These teams are the subject of the latest Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury report released Tuesday. The report dove into the teams and found proactive outreach by the programs is essential, but one needs a more stable funding source.
Mobile Intervention and Services Team (MIST) and Crisis Alternative Response Eureka (CARE) are government programs that send professionals to help people with severe, often untreated mental health and substance abuse issues, some living homeless. The teams care for the most-destitute people in Humboldt County, where about 20% live below the poverty line. The report found with a health care system in rough shape, particularly for the most marginalized people, the teams are an essential part of the safety net for helping the people they respond to.
Largely educational, the jury emphasized the importance of preventative care from these teams before people reach crisis. “It’s better for those folks because they don’t reach crisis. It’s better for the entire system because once they hit crisis, they’re affecting hospitals and law enforcement and ambulances and fire departments, and that costs a heck of a lot more money,” said Richard Bergstresser, foreperson for civil grand jury, reached by phone Wednesday.
The report concluded the programs need stable sources of funding to be successful. The report details the back an.
