There is a growing concern about mental illness throughout the region and out of that concern a task force in Riley County will study how to approach the issue. There has been some discussion about the possible need for a regional approach.

Last week Geary County Sheriff Tony Wolf talked with JCPost about a growing concern dealing with mental health issues among inmates at the Geary County Detention Center. He updated JCPost Wednesday saying that he believes the regional approach being discussed in Riley County is the,”right direction to go.”

“It is more of a regional issue, and I think by getting together and working with this, bringing more people to the table, it will bring different points of views and hopefully a better solution to at least get us through these tough times,” said Wolf.

It is still early as the task force is expected to continue to investigate what kind of issues are out there and what kind of things can be done.

Funding is the bottom line according to Wolf.

“When you boil this all down, it comes down to funding. The State has cut so much out of mental health services it’s become a real, real issue, and now the counties are having to pick up the bill for this.”

Wolf is in favor at looking at the issue and addressing it through a regional approach, but that will likley take quite some time. In the mean time he has contracted with the detention centers medical contractor, Advanced Correctional Healthcare, to bring in a specialist for about six hours a week to work with the inmates who suffer from mental illness.