MHRS seeks $180k county contract to keep Title 25 crisis gatekeeping 24/7

Mental Health & Recovery Services of Jackson Hole is asking Teton County for a $180,000 FY27 “crisis services” contract to keep its Title 25 role running 24/7/365 — the legally required gatekeeping and clinical assessment work that determines whether someone in acute psychiatric crisis meets the standard for emergency detention or can be stabilized and diverted to voluntary care. The request is laid out in the county’s FY27 funding packet, filed March 10. (Mental Health and Recovery Services Title 25 Funding Request Staff Report)

What’s procedurally distinctive here is that this isn’t a broad “behavioral health” ask split between town and county: MHRS says it contracts only with the county for Title 25 services and is requesting $0 from the Town of Jackson. In practice, that means commissioners — not the town council — are the sole decision point on whether the county’s emergency-detention examiner function stays funded at the level MHRS says it needs.

MHRS frames its value in diversion: it reports that about 98% of people it assesses are discharged to outpatient or voluntary plans rather than involuntary hospitalization, with clinicians re-evaluating clients every 24–48 hours and coordinating the rare involuntary cases with the county attorney for hearings on statutory timelines. In its look-back numbers, MHRS reports 105 assessments in 2025 (74 detained on a 72-hour hold; 7 involuntarily hospitalized) and says its case coordination diverted roughly 90 people from the state hospital system.

The next inflection point is the county’s FY27 Health and Human Services funding deliberations, where commissioners will weigh this contract against competing asks — and against MHRS’s note that it expects reductions in other government funding. If commissioners trim the request, the pressure point isn’t a program menu item; it’s the county’s capacity to meet Title 25 response times (MHRS cites 45 minutes for assessments and 15 minutes for crisis-line calls) without pushing more crises into the ER or jail.