Ivey Proposes $12M For Two New Mental Health Crisis Centers. Could Tuscaloosa Be Next?

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Just a few months after Tuscaloosa County narrowly lost out on securing $6 million in state funding to construct a new mental health crisis center, Republican Gov. Kay Ivey is proposing additional funding that could see the project finally come to fruition in west Alabama.

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On Tuesday night, as the 2022 Alabama Legislative Session kicked off in Montgomery, Ivey said during her State of the State Address that she will be proposing a $12 million investment for "two additional mental health crisis centers, as well as other health services."

Other west Alabama topics mentioned during Ivey's address:

• Smucker's $1.1 billion investment in McCalla.
• The West Alabama Corridor, connecting Mobile and Tuscaloosa with a four-lane highway.
• A proposed a 4% pay raise for state employees, specifically citing state troopers, corrections officers, mental health officers and others in law enforcement.

Click here to read our full list of takeaways.

"I am proud that my administration, with the support of the Legislature, is doing more to make significant improvements in mental health care than any since Governor Lurleen Wallace in the 1960s," she said.

In October, Patch reported that Jefferson County beat out Tuscaloosa and was ultimately awarded $6 million from the state and the Alabama Department of Mental Health to construct its new facility, which is expected to be complete some time this year.

The funding would have been used by Tuscaloosa County to construct the area's first mental health crisis center — a resource that is sorely needed when considering jail and prison overcrowding, along with a lack of state hospital beds in mental health facilities.

"These new centers are a step in the right direction for our state and the best thing we can do is roll up our collective sleeves and start preparing for the next opportunity to land one in Tuscaloosa County," Tuscaloosa County Probate Judge Rob Robertson told Patch in October.

As Patch previously reported, those in Tuscaloosa experiencing a mental health crisis are usually put on one of two routes — through DCH-Northport's Emergency Department or North Harbor Pavilion.

Officials have argued that some of these include people experiencing symptoms due to drug and/or alcohol use, which are cases that would be better handled through a specialized crisis center like the one being jockeyed for by Tuscaloosa County.

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