By Evelyn Pyburn

Confronted with a lot of questions from local officials that are going without answers, State officials have stepped back from their pursuit of finding a site for a behavioral health facility, funding for which was approved by the Montana State Legislature.

After conducting a tour of potential sites in several communities, Director of the Board of Investments,  Dan Villa, who has been charged with the task of finding a site, announced that he needs more direction and information from legislators, the Governor’s office and the Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) in order to better answer the questions he is being asked by county and city officials about what kind of facility is envisioned and how it will operate.

The Montana Board of Investments was assigned the task of assisting DPHHS in finding a site for the proposed facility following the approval of $26.5 million by the 2025 Montana Legislature to build the long-discussed need for a facility. The facility will serve an ever-growing waiting list of inmates in need of mental health services. The Montana Board of Investments manages state-owned lands, and it is hoped that a property can be found that is already owned by the state as  a site, thus saving in its cost.

Senate Bill 5, which advanced the proposal in the state legislature, states that construction should start on the facility by June of 2026. Some comments from legislators, recognizing its urgent need, have suggested that it needs to be completed in two years.

As Villa visited the prospective sites – especially in Billings which has been broadly discussed as the preferable location – he was pelted with questions about how the facility would operate, what expectations would be imposed upon the community and taxpayers, and even whether it is to be a general “behavioral health facility,” or a “forensic facility,” which would accommodate criminals serving sentences, who need mental health treatment.

In June, it was reported that Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services Director Charlie Brereton told a state commission that they hope to locate a new facility “in the Yellowstone County region.”

In making the announcement, last week, that the search for a site is being put on hold, Villa told his Board of Investments that he needs more guidance to answer questions, especially in Billings where concerns run high that the addition of such a facility will just add to the burden of providing social services for the mentally ill and other unhoused, unemployed, indigent people.

County and city officials in Billings have asked how the patients or inmates of the facility will be processed, concerned that they will eventually be discharged with no support, compounding social problems and imposing additional costs on taxpayers. The lack of information that Villa has been able to provide has generated charges that the State is not complying with the state’s public information requirements.

Montana Senator Mike Yakawich, Billings SD24,  who served on the legislative committee that dealt with how to address the issue of behavioral health in Montana, said that it is estimated that the proposed facility would be about 50 beds and would hire 50 people or more.

The idea of building a second location for a behavioral health center is not a new idea, said Yakawich. It’s been around for about 20 years.

The only other option for inmates needing mental health care has long been Warm Springs, which can accommodate about 100 patients, which has faced its own struggles over the past couple of years. However, it too received funding from the recent State Legislature, which is expected to help solve some of its problems — problems which resulted in it losing its federal accreditation and federal funding.  Sen. Yakawich said that he is confident that Warm Springs will regain its accreditation this year.

Some state officials have stated that they believe Billings is a preferable location for a second location for several reasons, including a more strategic location to better serve Eastern Montana.

As Sen. Yakawich commented, it’s a very long drive for communities in Eastern Montana to transport prisoners to Warm Springs in Deer Lodge County. Transporting prisoners across the state from Eastern Montana communities is an onerous and costly process, he said.

Even those questioning plans going forward readily concede the need for an additional facility in the State. Many of the inmates that are being held in local jails – including the Yellowstone County Detention Facility – should be in a facility that provides mental health care but there are no openings. Others are waiting long stretches in jail for mental health assessments they cannot get because of a lack of health care professionals.

Billings is the best choice for the site, say some civic leaders, because it has a wide variety of support services and a bigger workforce, as well as a larger community that might better attract prospective workers.  A shortage of prospective workers is a problem that has plagued Warm Springs, as well as law enforcement and jails, and other medical providers across the state.

That Billings is a preferred location because it already has other support services is exactly what makes the county commissioners and some city council members concerned about what such a facility could impose on the community and especially on taxpayers.

County Commissioner Mark Morse pointed out that the services that Billings has are beyond full capacity, with little or no funding available to expand them, while demand continues to grow.

Morse also emphasized that Yellowstone County decided some time ago to “invest in themselves” and take care of some of its needs for which county taxpayers have paid. They were not intended for use by the state nor should county taxpayers be expected to pay for the needs of the state, he said.

And, the State does not have a good record as far as the County Commissioners are concerned, in doing their part to support the full cost of State prisoners in the county jail. For more than a decade the State has refused to fully pay the county the daily cost of housing State prisoners. The State pays the county  $82.59 a day, while the County calculates the true cost at $117.

Morse further asked what will the State do when they release an inmate – just turn them out onto the streets of Billings?

In the past, there have been complaints from other county officials, who claim that other communities appear to give their troubled citizens a one-way bus ticket to Billings, which often means they are homeless and vying for the same over-capacity services in Billings.

Another county department head said that Yellowstone County does not have the workforce that the State is talking about. She said that while nationally they are claiming that there are two job openings for every worker, the figure is much higher in Yellowstone County. Every health care department, county sheriff and jail, as well as businesses, are struggling to hire the labor they need.

Questions about what the State’s plans are, went unanswered by the state officials, complained Morse and city officials. He said that in attendance during the site visit to Billings, there were representatives of a design firm and a construction contractor – “you don’t have them” unless there are plans available.

Yakawich pointed out that many of the answers about what the facility will be is probably not yet known because most of the planning won’t happen until a site is proposed.

Yakawich said he “gets” the concerns of the community, but has no problem with the facility locating in Billings. Yakawich said he understands the acute need not just for the State, but also for Yellowstone County and Eastern Montana to have a second health care facility.