Study Will Address Mental-Health Care in Forsyth County

CUMMING, GA -- A new partnership in Forsyth County aims to make sure residents are getting the mental-health care they need and not, as is too often the case, being shuffled into the criminal-justice system.

The county commission recently approved a a deal with the state Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, the Forsyth County News reports.

Under the deal, the county will pay $48,000 for a mapping study and needs-assessment of county services.

Stefanie Lopez-Howard, who works for the council, said the study would include interviews and surveys of people within the county’s criminal-justice system as well as family members of people with mental-health issues who have dealt with the system.

She said the study will look at the cost of keeping peopel with mental-health concerns in jail, with an eye toward helping law enforcement better deal with those situations.

“We hear repeatedly when we’ve gone out into different communities throughout the state that jails are now the No. 1 mental health care provider in the state and they’re overburdened and overwhelmed,” she said. “They’re doing something they were never really designed to do.”