Mental health center given show of support

Friday, Jan. 30, 2004 | 9:38 a.m.

The Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition, a body representing the region's local governments, showed its support Thursday for a program that helps people beaten back by alcohol and mental illness.

The coalition voted to continue providing nearly $1.3 million in funding to WestCare, a Las Vegas nonprofit agency, for the program after hearing a report on its first year of operation.

The so-called triage center has helped about 6,000 adults who otherwise would be in emergency rooms or jail, costing taxpayers millions, said Richard Steinberg, WestCare president.

Still, the program has struggled after a legislative interim committee refused to approve nearly $200,000 in state funding late last year. The state continues to search for other sources of funding, Steinberg said. Hospitals provide another $1.3 million.

At the meeting, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who serves on the coalition, said he would also contribute $50,000 he had earned in October 2002 for endorsing Bombay Sapphire gin.

Goodman said at the time he would dedicate the money -- half of a $100,000 deal -- to the homeless. The other half went to helping students at a private school his wife, Carolyn, helped to found.

Steinberg said about 80 percent of the people who had gone through the triage center were homeless.