Bell County Diversion Center
Facility likely will open in late fall or early 2024
The former Luvida Memory Care on Loop 121 in Belton near the jail complex is being renovated into the Bell County Diversion Center to provide an option for keeping low-level offenders out of hospital beds and jail cells. James Stafford photo
DAVID STONE | OUR TOWN TEMPLE
A facility designed to keep low-level offenders with addiction or mental health issues out of jail and hospitals likely will open in late fall or early 2024, Bell County Judge David Blackburn said today.
The 17,000 square feet Bell County Diversion Center will be located in the former Luvida Memory Care building on Loop 121 in Belton near the Bell County Jail Complex. Blackburn said the building was purchased in September for $3.5 million and is undergoing extensive renovation.
The county’s indigent care department also will be located in the facility.
“Our goal is to identify people with mental illness and substance abuse issues who would otherwise be taking up jail cells or hospital beds,” Blackburn said. “We want to get them the care they need.”
“The county has been working for several years to improve services of our criminal justice system,” he said. “We’ve found that issues such as addiction and homelessness increase the probability that a person will engage in crime and land in jail. Mental health is weaved into the fabric of many issues — medical problems, homelessness, drug and alcohol abuse — and can lead to interactions with the criminal justice system.”
“We want to supply a new option for police officers and first responders,” Blackburn said. “Right now, the options are the hospital or jail. The Diversion Center will give them a new alternative.”
Blackburn said Bell officials looked at other counties in Texas and across the US before making a decision to open a facility. The idea behind diversion or transition centers is catching on in many locations.
“If there is a mental health issue, the first responder will be able to take a suspect to the Diversion Center to get evaluated,” he said. “But, a stay at the center has to be voluntary. It’s not something that can be mandated by the county or state.”
Blackburn said multiple agencies are involved in funding the Bell County Diversion Center, including the county, local mental health authorities and local hospitals such as Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Temple and AdventHealth Central Texas in Killeen.
“Once it opens, the center will be operated by Central Counties Services on a contract basis with assistance from the two hospitals and Bell County Indigent Health.
Blackburn said initially the facility will have 16 beds and while the length of stays have not been determined, the facility is not meant to be a chronic care center.
“It will be a bridge facility,” Blackburn said. “The idea is to get them on medications if necessary and to get them some help before we find an appropriate long-term solution.”
Treatments will be determined by Central Counties Services and patients may be required to follow multiple paths after discharge. The idea is to connect them to a long-term provider or get them on medications they need to be functional members of society.
While at the facility, patients will be taught life skills and gain knowledge about relapse and addiction. Once they move on, those able to work may be required to obtain employment and start a savings account with their earned income.
“This Diversion Center will allow us to provide the right support and services at the right time while reducing the burden the mentally ill can place on law enforcement, hospitals and the judicial system,” Blackburn said.