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Home My WebLink AboutEmail from Nava Nichole – Request for Long-Term Mental Health & Drug-Alcohol Detox Facilities Schuman, Amy From: Menchaca, Clarissa Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2019 4:22 PM To: Schuman,Amy Subject: FW: Request for Long-Term Mental Health & Drug/Alcohol Detox Facilities Correspondence. Cleuri'Ma,MCiitCh42-C.Cti Associate Clerk of the Board Butte County Administration 25 County Center Drive, Suite 200, Oroville, CA 95965 T: 530.552.33081 F: 530.538.7120 Twitter I Facebook I YouTube I Pinterest From: Nichole Nava <nava125@yahoo.com> Sent:Saturday, December 29, 2018 3:39 PM To:stina.cooley@chicoca.gov; dani.rogers@chicoca.gov; debbie.presson@chicoca.gov; Kasey.reynolds@chicoca.gov; sean.morgan@chicoca.gov;Alex.brown@chicoca.gov; karl.ory@chicoca.gov; ann.schwab@chicoca.gov; randall.stone@chicoca.gov; Scott.huber@chicoca.gov; Mark.Orme@chicoca.gov; michael.obrien@chicoca.gov; steve.standridge@chicoca.gov; Read, Darren <Darren.Read@fire.ca.gov>; Clerk of the Board <clerkoftheboard@buttecounty.net>; Wahl, Larry<LWahl@buttecounty.net>; Lucero, Debra <DLucero@buttecounty.net>; Ritter,Tami<TRitter@buttecounty.net>; police@cityoforoville.org, sheriff info <infosheriff@buttecounty.net>; District Attorney<District_Attorney@buttecounty.net>; gavin@gavinnewsom.com; Idahlmeier@cityoforoville.org;jgoodson@cityoforoville.org;ahatley@cityoforoville.org;jberry@cityoforoville.org; mdelrosario@cityoforoville.org; sthomson@cityoforoville.org; (draper@cityoforoville.org Cc: Nichole (Nichole) and Louis Nava<nava125@yahoo.com> Subject: Fwd: Request for Long-Term Mental Health & Drug/Alcohol Detox Facilities Greetings, I am copying you on the email I sent today shown below with a subject line of`Request for Long-Term Mental Health & Drug/Alcohol Detox Facilities', which, in addition to Senator Jim Nielsen, has also been sent to Congressman Doug LaMalfa and Assemblymember James Gallagher. I am including you, as you are a vital stakeholder and it would be greatly appreciated if you could lend your vocal and written support to this important request. If anyone is not in support of the two types of facilities noted, I would be greatly interested in a response as to why that is the case and am open to a discussion on the topics. I believe all of us working together to advance this request could get this done! If needed, we can network with other cities/counties within California who would like these facilities implemented as well. I believe a realignment of how Mental Health funding is currently allocated is needed to allow for opportunities such as the those requested below to facilitate and implement real solutions to our collective crisis. 1 Unfortunately, the current methodology used with the allocated funds within our county is not keeping up with the scope of our community's challenges in these areas. I suspect this is the case for many other communities across California. For your reference, the entities included within this email are as follows: City of Chico, City Council City of Chico, City Manager Chico Police Department, Chief O'Brien Chico Fire Department, Chief Standridge City of Oroville, City Council Oroville Police Department, Chief LaGrone Butte County Board of Supervisors BCSO, Sheriff Honea Butte County DA Mike Ramsey CalFire Fire Chief Darren Read Governor-Elect Gavin Newsom Thank you for your time and consideration of my request. Regards, Nichole Nava Concerned Resident, City of Chico Butte County, CA Email: Naval25@yahoo.com Begin forwarded message: From: Nichole Nava<naval25@yahoo.com> Date: December 29, 2018 at 10:55:42 AM PST To: Senator.Nielsen!,senate.ca.gov Cc: "Nichole (Nichole) and Louis Nava" <naval25@yahoo.com> Subject: Request for Long-Term Mental Health & Drug/Alcohol Detox Facilities Dear Senator Nielsen, For the sake of my City of Chico, my county of Butte, and indeed all of the State of California, it is imperative that we secure long-term residential mental health care facilities. The same can be said for long-term residential drug and alcohol treatment centers. We need to have local options for these facilities to serve our population in their path to wellness. I understand that this is a big undertaking as far as monetary investment, but as you are aware, there is a huge methamphetamine and heroin issue throughout the United States. Until we start addressing real solutions, we will see the issues we do locally on our streets, consisting of continued homelessness, low level crimes, and violent crimes. These issues impact the quality of life for residents everywhere, including those who are experiencing these issues firsthand and do not have the wherewithal to seek help for themselves. It is a travesty that there are those who would keep people away from the help they need, all in the name of supposed social justice. 2 People do not have the right to trample on the rights of others just because they have a mental illness or are under the influence of drugs and alcohol. What they do need is sometimes to be guided along toward support that will actually help resolve their issues. For some, this might mean getting on the proper medication and being observed in a safe environment ongoing until they are stabilized and a safe family support system can be established. For others, this might mean going through a detox program and spending months in therapy learning coping mechanisms and perhaps having to relocate away from triggers that led to unsafe choices and behaviors. Until we actually address the back-end reality of the significant mental health issues and drug and alcohol usage plaguing our streets, we will never address the root causes and therefore will not see a significant impact on the homeless situation we are experiencing throughout our local communities, our state, and, indeed, our nation. As you are aware, mental health and drug and alcohol issues are indiscriminate masters, these issues/dependencies can hit anyone at any socioeconomic or educational level who either has a genetic predisposition, a lack of proper coping mechanisms, or they just hit the wrong type of lottery. We are at an important crossroads and are looking to our representatives to serve us well and lead us on a road to recovery and quality of life for all. This request is an opportunity for you to join with others in a non-partisan effort to address this huge gap in our societal wellness. You could lead the charge in drafting legislation to mandate funding for long-term mental health residential facilities and drug and alcohol detox and recovery residential facilities. There are many facilities that exist near jails or are co-located with jails that could be leveraged to serve as these facilities. Some communities would require new buildings, however, whether existing buildings are co-opted or new buildings are constructed, these facilities would be job creators from development, remodel or construction, and through implementation and on to maintenance and operations. This would also lighten the load that exists within our jails and transition individuals toward the help they need, with an eye toward them eventually living productive and happy lives. A portion of these individuals would likely not be able to ever live independently again due to the severity of their diagnosis or addictions, but they would be able to have quality of life like the rest of us, because they would be cared for, fed, and sleep in warm, dry beds. They would also receive ongoing medication and support such as they need to be safe for themselves and others. Please consider this plea for help that would go a long way toward healing the communities across our state. This solution would be a win for everyone and is desperately needed. With the recent disaster in our community, I would predict that you will see even more people fall victim to mental illness or drug and alcohol addiction due to their level of despair and lack of a sufficient support system. The time is now for an overhaul and we are in dire need of your help. I beg you to take this request seriously and begin drafting this important and historic legislation. Best regards, Nichole Nava 3 Resident of the City of Chico, Butte County, CA 4