Area judges, local government, and law enforcement urge legislature to fund Anchor Project amid mental health and substance use crises

Published:

March 21, 2024

Category:

General

Contact:

Deborah West - 2703933642

Location:

Bowling Green, KY

As Kentucky's legislative session end is near, this $23M request from BRADD leaders to the entire Kentucky Senate and House is a big ask,” Bowling Green Mayor Todd Alcott said. “BRADD leaders are optimistic and grateful to our legislative leaders carrying our flag.

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (March 21, 2024) – Area judges, local government leaders, and law enforcement expressed tremendous gratitude today for the state lawmakers who have supported the regional Anchor Project, a proposed mental health and substance use disorder regional facility in Bowling Green and are now asking for help from all state lawmakers to fund the construction of the proposed facility.

For more than a year, a committee of mental health professionals, law enforcement, judges, state and federal leaders and local government representatives have worked together to find regional solutions to help people in mental health and substance use crises.

This committee has collectively come up with a solution modeled after a successful dual-diagnosis facility in another state. The Anchor Project, as it is now being called, is a replicable model in which a person in crisis can receive immediate treatment. Currently, in far too many cases, our criminal, judicial, and emergency medical care processes serve as first treatments, rather than a mental health professional helping a person through their mental health crisis.

The Anchor Project can refocus the resources spent on our jails, law enforcement and our judicial system to target the person in crisis, allowing for a greater chance of a positive outcome and a more productive citizen. It has the potential to save thousands of taxpayer dollars annually and have a transformative effect on people’s lives.

“I can tell you the criminal justice system is a poor substitute for true mental health treatment,” Eighth Judicial Circuit Judge Chris Cohron said. “The Anchor Project and the support it will give citizens in all 10 counties of the BRADD District will be life changing.”

“We’re very hopeful that Frankfort will see that this is a great investment not only in the BRADD area but the Commonwealth overall,” he said.

This regional solution has come about through community collaboration and represents a united front from county and city leaders from 10 counties, judges, and first responders all working together to solve the mental health crisis plaguing our communities.

“As Kentucky's legislative session end is near, this $23M request from BRADD leaders to the entire Kentucky Senate and House is a big ask,” Bowling Green Mayor Todd Alcott said. “BRADD leaders are optimistic and grateful to our legislative leaders carrying our flag. 

“This endeavor, Anchor Project, will be a beacon for our Commonwealth in solving the mental health crisis plaguing our state, and overcrowding in our jails; primary contributors to the cycle of homelessness,” he said.