Mental health at the forefront of Mobile City Council discussions

Mental health at the forefront of Mobile City Council discussions

The Mobile City Council continued to wrangle with mental health services in the city Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the Mobile City Council resolved to apply for a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to expand a program that provides behavioral health services when police are called to a mental health emergency. AltaPointe Health System, Inc., the mental health provider in the county, is set to match the funding for the grant.

The council ultimately tabled a resolution to re-appoint Mary Stewart Nelson to the AltaPointe board. Because AltaPointe serves as the mental health authority in the region (as designated by the Alabama Department of Mental Health), the city of Mobile appoints three members of AltaPointe’s 24-member board. Nelson has served on the board for two years.

The objections to Nelson’s appointment and to the grant application to the DOJ came from Councilmember Scott Jones, who has long criticized AltaPointe for what he says is its lack of transparency and poor care.

“I just think we need answers,” Jones said after the meeting. “I can’t approve any funding for an organization that I continue to get these claims of abuse from.”