Lake County’s two, roughly 30-square-foot isolation cells are an example of how communities nationwide are failing to provide mental health services — crisis care, in particular.
According to the proclamation read by Mayor Andrea Davis, suicide remains one of the leading causes of death for both active and retired law enforcement officers.
A state commission has come out with a draft report laying out recommendations for how leaders can invest millions of dollars to strengthen Montana’s behavioral health system.
Despite the seemingly idyllic nature of life in a mountain resort town like Whitefish, these communities often experience higher rates of mental health challenges and suicide than the national average.
Montana ranked third-worst among states for suicide deaths in 2020, and 25% of all suicides in the state from 2017 through 2021 were among Native Americans, even though they represent only 6.5% of the state’s population.
The second slice of the $300 million pie for behavioral health improvements in Montana will be going to mobile crisis response as well as developing training for new mental health professionals.