Tensions between Dane County officials and the Madison Police Department intensified in an incident Monday when officers left an incapacitated person at the county detox center, despite their insistence they were at capacity.
Tellurian UCAN, the company contracted to perform detox services through the county-owned building, turned away police who brought an intoxicated individual to the center for treatment, according to a Madison police report originally obtained by the Isthmus. Officers placed the individual in the entry room and slipped detox paperwork under the door.
Tellurian staff informed the police that it was at medical capacity and could not take the intoxicated individual, the report said. The officers watched the intoxicated individual for a period of time and then left the scene, and the detox center then paid for an ambulance to transport the individual to the nearest emergency room.
Tellurian spokesperson Kevin Florek said since the incident, the detox center has taken steps to prevent similar issues from occurring.
“What we’ve done since then is we’ve locked the door, put up a sign and we call dispatch as a courtesy to the police [when we are at medical capacity],” Florek said. “We want to work with them, and it’s been a great relationship so far.”
Dane County cut funding to the detox center by $200,000 this year. Florek said staffing patterns have decreased to preserve a client-to-staff ratio that meets medical and safety standards. The result is a lowered capacity to take in incapacitated individuals that need medical attention.
Dane County Human Services Director Lynn Green said the county funds 10 of the detox center’s beds. In a recent change to the county’s contract with Tellurian, the beds can only be used by intoxicated individuals brought in by law enforcement if the beds are not already filled by citizens voluntarily seeking treatment.
“We want to focus our funding to detoxing [people] and engaging them in the treatment that they need and they are willing to participate in,” Green said. “Given that we believe our mission from taxpayers is to use what resources we have in evidence-based, cost-effective ways, we believe this is a change and focus we needed to take.”
Green said data has shown 5 percent of individuals who spend less than two days in the detox center never engaged in meaningful treatment within 60 days of their discharge.
MPD has expressed their concern with the changes to Tellurian in the recent past. MPD Chief Noble Wray sent a letter to Dane County Executive Joe Parisi outlining his belief that the county has not addressed their objections to the changes to Dane County detox adequately.
As a result of the new plan, the Madison detox facility will no longer be open 24/7 to Dane County residents as it has been in the past, according to the letter.
Florek suggested a solution to the escalating conflict between Dane County and MPD officers. He said a significant amount of money outlined in the 2012 Tellurian budget was returned to the county after the center decided the amount would not be necessary.
Florek proposed the money be returned to Tellurian to address the funding cuts.
“This way you can still do the treatment model, and you can open up a lot more beds,” Florek said. “You make the police happy, you continue your model and more importantly you can serve more people. It’s a win-win.”
