The Crisis Diversion Grant provides funding from the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services to support the implementation of behavioral health crisis response systems, community-based jail diversion, crisis intervention services, and short-term inpatient treatment services for individuals with mental illness. 

Missoula County has received funding since 2009, when the Montana State Legislature passed HB130, which allocated funding to Montana counties to develop mental health jail diversion and crisis intervention programs. Missoula County’s most recent award was a little over $2.2 million to fund a variety of services and expand vital crisis mental and behavioral health services in Missoula.  

The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services allocates Healing and Ending Addiction through Recovery and Treatment (HEART) funding to local detention centers for jail-based therapeutic services, peer support services, care coordination, and other related services.

Missoula County has received funding since 2022 to support Missoula County’s jail mental health team who provide vital behavioral health services to the inmates at the Missoula County Detention Facility. Missoula County’s Jail Mental Health Team is currently comprised of one lead and two mental health therapists, interns from the University of Montana School of Social Work, and one care coordinator.

The team works with both adults and juveniles and provides the following services: 

• Individual and group therapy
• Suicide/violence risk assessments
• Developing coping skills and assisting with community re-integration 
• Connecting an individual with a service provider for follow up mental health care upon release
• Coordinating with detention staff, lawyers, and community providers, as needed, to assist inmates with obtaining services