Discuss, consider, and take appropriate action on an agreement with Bluebonnet Trails Community Services (BTCS) for the operation of the Williamson County Jail-Based Competency Restoration Program. 

The Williamson County Jail-Based Competency Restoration (JBCR) is a very successful program that began in September 2023.  The program considers admission of individuals charged with a crime that is found by the courts to be incompetent to stand trial due to an active mental illness or intellectual disability.  The program is located within a designated pod in the Jail and treatment services are led by BTCS forensic practitioners and a professional team that includes qualified mental health professionals, RN's and psychiatrists.  The project team works with individuals admitted into the program to reduce symptoms of mental illness and substance use through medication management, nursing oversight, counseling and care coordination.  Completion of the program helps restore a person to competency so that legal proceedings can resume.   Before the JBCR program was implemented, inmates that were deemed incompetent to stand trial could wait approximately two years for a restoration bed in the State hospital system.  The average days to restore competency for participants in the Wilco JBCR program with Misdemeanor charges is 36.2 days and for individuals with Felony charges is 38.9 days.  This has provided a total estimated local cost savings of $4,925,273 and a total estimated State cost savings of $2,612,517.  The JBCR program is a partnership with BTCS, the Williamson County Sheriff's Office, Jail Administration, District Attorney's Office, Courts and Felony Docket leaders, defense attorneys and Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). 

The JBCR program is funded by a grant received by BTCS through Texas HHSC.  Since Williamson County is not providing monetary funding allocations for the JBCR program, there was not an agreement previously.  The agreement attached for consideration by the Commissioners Court clarifies the responsibilities and obligations of the County and BTCS.