Lewis and Clark County hires temporary mental health provider for Helena jail
Temporary mental health coverage is now in place at the Helena jail after Western Montana Mental Health Center’s exit left a gap in detention services. County behavioral-health work is already tied to crisis response, 988-MT and the broader justice system.
Lewis and Clark County has brought in a temporary mental health provider for the Helena jail after a staffing and contract gap left detention-center behavioral health work in transition. The stopgap is meant to keep counseling, crisis assessment and stabilization support from breaking down inside the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center, where mental-health interruptions can quickly become a safety problem for both detainees and staff.
The county’s move follows its decision in November not to renew an expiring seven-year contract with Western Montana Mental Health Center in order to hire new services. Search results tied to that shift say the change affected detention-center behavioral-health staff, a crisis response team, the Our Place drop-in center and the Journey Home crisis stabilization unit, showing the jail contract sits inside a much larger county behavioral-health reset rather than a one-off procurement.
County documents show the criminal-justice behavioral-health team is already a formal program inside the Lewis & Clark County Department of Criminal Justice Services. The department says the team includes a therapist, a case manager and a licensed addiction counselor who work collaboratively with the Detention Center, and county behavioral-health materials say the program supports the mental health and recovery needs of people involved in the local justice system. The county also lists 988-MT, the Montana suicide prevention and mental health crisis line, on its behavioral-health map, with the line marked effective July 16, 2022.
That broader system work includes Lewis and Clark County Public Health’s Crisis System Response and Stabilization program, a 2021 behavioral health crisis system analysis and a Behavioral Health Program that engages with two primary groups to improve the crisis system and continuum of care. A 5-Year Report for the Department of Criminal Justice Services, prepared in July 2023 by Bri Lake and approved by Director Kellie McBride, underscores how formally the county has organized the work around criminal justice and behavioral health.
The county has also been hiring in this space. A LinkedIn posting sought a Behavioral Health Therapist, LCSW or LCPC, and the county issued a request for proposals for a Detention Center Medical Services Provider, signaling that jail health care is being handled through formal procurement rather than informal coverage. A 2024 Montana Area Health Education Center needs assessment says Montana faces a persistent behavioral health and substance-use disorder crisis, adding pressure to county detention and crisis systems already carrying the burden.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
