An alternative to jail
Center director Mark Tittle gave a tour of the building while preparing to welcome nine more guests, on top of the nine already staying there.
“Doubles our numbers right there,” Tittle said. “That’s exciting for us.”
The county funds the center, and MHMR, Tarrant County’s mental health authority, operates it. The building is two floors, with bedrooms, a kitchen, TVs and a lending library with books and games – much different than a jail cell.
“We try to keep it airy, open, bright, happy for the people that come in here. We want them to know that they’re welcome,” Tittle said.
The center’s scope has grown in the nearly two years since it opened. At first, it only accepted people brought in on criminal trespassing charges. In March, the county expanded the list of eligible charges, adding theft, possession of marijuana, disorderly conduct, false report and making threats.
As of September, the eligibility expanded even more, Tittle said. Now almost any nonviolent misdemeanor can get diverted, with some exceptions, like weapons offenses and DWIs. From January 2022 through this October, the center saw 706 referrals.
People come to the center voluntarily, and they can leave whenever they want. People have stayed anywhere from 20 minutes to three months, Tittle said, but the average is a few days.
At the center, people can get a physical health exam, mental health treatment and substance use counseling. They can also get help finding housing, accessing benefits, searching for a job and finding their family members.
Pretty much everyone who uses the diversion center is experiencing homelessness, Tittle said. When living on the street, it can be hard to avoid criminal charges. Someone might trespass to find a place to sleep. They might get arrested for public intoxication, because they live in public areas.
These individuals can become “frequent fliers” in the criminal justice system, said Judge Deborah Nekhom, a Tarrant County misdemeanor court judge.
“I have one gentleman that I’ve seen in my court over and over and over again, so many times that I know his face and I know his name,” Nekhom said. “Every time he comes in, it’s for a new criminal trespass or a public intoxication, some combination of the two.”
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