SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio is helping advance a plan for a diversion center that could allow people with mental illness or disabilities to avoid going to jail for low-level misdemeanors and get treatment instead.
The Center for Health Care Services (CHCS) plans to commission a study to confirm the feasibility of such a center and develop a plan. After a Tuesday discussion, the city council’s Public Safety Committee unanimously supported staff’s recommendation to partner with the center on its study.
Deputy City Manager María Villagómez told KSAT the city will chip in $30,000 toward the cost from the San Antonio Police Department budget. CHCS estimates the study will cost between $100,000 and $120,000…