A new mental-health crisis center is coming to South Salt Lake.

Expected to open in 2025, the new 24/7 Kem and Carolyn Gardner Crisis Center will assist Utahns experiencing mental-health challenges and substance addiction. According to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah, more than 100,000 Utahns experience serious mental illness and more than half of Utah adults with poor mental health do not receive treatment or counseling.

Ross Van Vranken, executive director of the Huntsman Mental Health Institute, said this one-of-a-kind facility will aim to improve those statistics.

"This really speaks to the stigma of mental illness and substance use and why a lot of people don't get treatment," he said. "And what we are trying to do is make it easy and accessible and also trying to kind of eliminate that stigma."

Vranken said the $64 million facility will have the capacity to treat and stabilize 30 patients at a time and include a 24-bed in-patient facility. He said no one will be turned away for "their inability to pay." He said the center has received funding from Medicaid for eligible patients and is hoping to work with insurance companies to help cover costs so that the burden doesn't only fall on the county or state.

Currently, six centers in Utah are staffed by therapists, nursing staff and peer counselors who provide treatments to those in need. The Kem and Carolyn Gardner Crisis Center will be the newest place where people can receive treatment rather than being cited or sent to jail. Vranken said too many people with mental illness have spent unnecessary time in jails or emergency rooms.

In addition to clinical and crisis services, the center will also incorporate help provided by free dental and law clinics.

"You can imagine a lot of these folks get kind of nuisance charges and then they don't show up for their hearing and they're in contempt and there is a warrant for their arrest," he said. "It's just kind of cleaning up a lot of these nuisance charges to actually prevent them from getting funding and housing and all kinds of other things."

Vranken said the most critical part to mental-health treatment is patient engagement. He added that those who will work at the crisis care center will develop relationships to ensure those who need care are receiving it.


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As Mississippi grapples with a growing mental health crisis, state and local leaders are being urged to prioritize diversion programs and crisis care systems to prevent the unnecessary incarceration of people with mental illness.

It is estimated 2 million people with serious mental illness are booked into jails across the U.S. each year.

Shannon Scully, director of justice policy and initiatives for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said in Mississippi, where mental health resources are often scarce and the incarceration rate is among the highest in the nation, it means more than 19,000 people in state custody.

"The criminal justice system disproportionately impacts people with mental illness," Scully explained. "They are overrepresented in those spaces, and that's mostly because historically, our communities have underfunded and under-resourced behavioral health."

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports 44% of people in jails and 43% in state and federal prisons have a mental illness. The Magnolia State has made some progress in recent years, leveraging federal funding to expand mental health services. However, advocates warned proposed budget cuts could jeopardize the gains.

Mississippi's prison system has long been under scrutiny for overcrowding and poor conditions, and a lack of mental health services exacerbates the problem. Scully pointed to "nuisance laws" criminalizing behaviors associated with untreated mental illness, such as public disturbances or sleeping in public, as key drivers of incarceration.

"Instead of implementing policies that may connect these folks to crisis services or to supportive housing, they are charged with a crime or they are ticketed," Scully emphasized. "They become involved with the criminal justice system."

As March marks Criminal Justice Awareness Month, she urged Mississippians to learn more about how mental health intersects with the justice system and to push for reforms. Scully promotes the importance of community engagement, pointing to resources like reimaginecrisis.org, where people can track legislation and advocacy efforts for mental health diversion and crisis care in their state.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have found that Black students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Predominantly Black Institutions experience better mental-health outcomes compared with their peers at other institutions, but challenges remain.

The Healthy Minds Network, based at U of M, partnered with UCLA, Wayne State, and Boston University, to conduct the study in collaboration with the UNCF Institute for Capacity Building and the Steve Fund. Akilah Patterson, a doctoral candidate at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health, led the research and said the study involved 16 HBCUs and two PBIs, with more than 2,500 students participating.

"About 45% of them are flourishing mentally," she said. "Most notably, we saw that 83% of HBCU and PBI students reported having a sense of belonging in their campus community, compared to about 73% nationally."

However, the data also reveals significant challenges. More than half of the students report that their financial situation is "always" or "often" stressful, and 78% of those facing financial hardships are also dealing with mental-health issues.

In light of these challenges, the study recommends that colleges and universities address unmet mental-health needs, alleviate financial stress, expand on-campus mental-health resources and strengthen student-faculty connections.

Patterson said she hopes the report also underscores the importance of fostering a strong sense of belonging on campus and the crucial role HBCUs play in students' lives.

"HBCUs have a very long tradition of being centers of excellence and academic achievement," she said, "but this work also highlights that there are some mental-health challenges that do need to be addressed on those campuses so students can very much thrive academically."

As of 2023, HBCUs enrolled approximately 293,000 students. While originally established to serve Black students, as of 2015, non-Black students constitute about 22% of enrollment, up from 15% in 1976.


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Nebraska mental health professionals worry the Trump administration's proposed $880 billion in Medicaid funding cuts would threaten progress the state has made in providing help to those who need it.

The reductions could have a dramatic impact on the 345,000 Nebraskans who rely on Medicaid as their only source of health insurance.

Aileen Brady, president and CEO of Omaha-based Community Alliance, said Nebraska has had recent success in getting higher Medicaid reimbursement rates for providers, and has expanded services.

She added that cuts would hurt people who need help the most - those struggling with mental health problems, people with disabilities, and kids.

"Nearly half of Medicaid enrollees in Nebraska are under the age of 20," said Brady, "and I think people need to understand that impact it'll have on our children in Nebraska - and that means our future in Nebraska."

A recent survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says at least 50% of American adults will need treatment for a mental health issue during their lifetime.

Brady said such steep cuts at the federal level would require dramatic cuts in services to Nebraskans, especially when considering the degree to which the state relies on the federal money.

"Fifty-eight percent of every dollar is a federal dollar, 42% of those dollars are state dollars," said Brady. "If those cuts would come into play, that $880 billion over a period of time, that's going to create a fundamental shift in how services are delivered - the shift of cost to the states - or it's going to result in a significant cut."

The Trump administration is following through on a campaign promise to cut federal spending across the board.