A Helena group charged with developing a system for assisting mentally ill people in crisis in the tri-county area has submitted a request to the state for $300,500 to help make the group's vision a reality.

The proposal submitted to the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services by the Lewis and Clark County Mental Health Crisis Response Program and Facility Partnership Steering Committee advocates a three-pronged approach to addressing the community's needs.

In addition, the proposal outlines several methods to sustain the program, including seeking public approval of a county levy within the next couple of years.

"(A levy) is something we will need to consider," said John Wilkinson, a consultant hired by the Rocky Mountain Development Council to prepare the proposal for the state's Mental Health Services Division.

The steering committee began meeting in earnest a couple of years ago to explore a solution to the community's mental health service problems, but their lack of financial backing curbed their efforts.

However, the 2005 Legislature earmarked $875,000 to assist in the development of a community mental health plan - that's the money that the steering committee hopes to tap into to move its ideas forward.

The local mental health services crisis came to a head in 2002 when St. Peter's Hospital closed its mental health division after losing two of the three psychiatrists who manned the short-term, acute-care facility. On average, the unit provided assistance to about 400 patients a year.

Now, mentally ill adults in crisis often wind up in the emergency room at St. Peter's. If they don't have medical problems, they are sent to another community for voluntary, in-patient care, or are taken to the state mental hospital in Warm Springs.

The situation has strained the resources of area service providers, ranging from health care professionals to law enforcement officers.

In most cases, officials say, men and women in mental health crisis don't need to be placed in such a restrictive setting. Instead, they need a safe place to stay for a week to 10 days while they get back on their necessary medications and stabilize.

The proposal crafted by Wilkinson suggests creating a 24-hour crisis response team comprised of mental health professionals that will assist law enforcement in coping with calls relating to mentally ill adults in crisis.

The proposal asks for $3,000 in training money and $147,750 to pay the team's operating costs for a year.

The second component of the solution is the establishment of a site to take adults in crisis to de-escalate.

Wilkinson said controversial plans by Golden Triangle to open a crisis stabilization center in a renovated house at 836 N. Jackson will play an important part on the road to achieving that goal. Thus, the proposal requests $40,000 in start-up costs for that facility.

Ultimately, however, the community needs to establish a centralized triage location where people in crisis can be evaluated, along with a longer-term, in-patient, secure facility, he said.

The proposal submitted to DPHHS asks for about $110,000 to pay for a project coordinator to head up that effort, in addition to various consultation and planning fees associated with developing the plan.

According to Wilkinson, sustainability of a mental health service system in the Helena area has long been a topic of concern for steering committee members.

So, he said it's integral to the survival of whatever system the community establishes to obtain voter approval of a levy.

In a letter included in the package submitted to the state, Lewis and Clark County commissioners voiced their support of the proposal, including the levy. The commissioners added that they intend to explore interlocal agreements with other governmental entities, along with tentatively allocating $50,000 of county money to the effort in the coming year.

"The commission is keenly aware of the need to act in partnership with local agencies, care providers and the state to fund these projects and it strongly encourages (state officials) to approve the money requested in the proposal so that these critical needs can be addressed immediately," the commissioners wrote.

In addition, Wilkinson said the system must be closely linked with St. Peter's Hospital because staff members there have the expertise to assist in developing programs and facilities to serve mentally ill people.

Wilkinson's report includes several suggestions for changes that must be made on the state level to help fledgling community mental health service plans to survive.

Those suggestions range from increasing the poverty level for people seeking mental health services, to applying a 72-hour presumptive eligibility for people in crisis situations, regardless of eligibility.

According to Lou Thompson, bureau chief for the Mental Health Services Division, a committee began reviewing proposals from groups for the state funding on Monday, and is expected to wrap up today. She said the committee hopes to have a final decision on the successful applicants in the next couple of weeks.

Thompson said the state received $1.3 million in requests for funding, with only $875,000 available for distribution.

Gene Leuwer, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Development Council, said he is hopeful that the result of the decision-making process will benefit the tri-county area.

"The proposal itself, and what it represents, is important," Leuwer said. "Just the process of developing relationships ... and starting the process to think about providing this service is valuable."