Officials in Michigan's Macomb County are proposing a behavioral health-focused $228 million central intake center for the county jail complex, the Detroit Free Press reported May 12.
The three-story center is proposed as a new structure, the report said. It would provide services for people with mental health and substance abuse issues who are brought to the Mount Clemens lockup.
The proposed center is intended to help address what officials say is a decades-long gap in mental health care that began when state facilities were decommissioned, the report said. It would have 210 beds, 162 of which would be reserved for medical and mental health inmates.
The current jail complex only has 64 beds total for medical, medical detox and mental health, the report said.
"What we're about to do here in Macomb County is transformative," County Executive Mark Hackel said when officials announced the proposed project, according to the Detroit Free Press. "Confinement should never be a substitute for treatment."
If approved, construction could start in late 2024 or 2025 with move-in anticipated in 2028, the report said.