Pleasant Hill City Council Votes To Tighten Conditions for Crestwood Behavioral Health Center

The Pleasant Hill City Council on Monday voted 3-1 to "tighten the conditions" under which it approved the opening of an unlocked treatment center for people with mental illnesses, the Contra Costa Times reports (Lyons, Contra Costa Times, 9/17). The council in July voted 3-1 to allow Crestwood Behavioral Health to open a 53,000-square-foot facility, which will be the state's largest unlocked mental health rehabilitation center, after city lawyers said that the Americans with Disabilities Act left them with no options and the possibility of a costly lawsuit if they tried to block the facility. Crestwood has agreed to limit passes out of the center to between 10 a.m. and nightfall, assign a police officer to patrol the area and not admit sex offenders or people with a history of violence (California Healthline, 7/24). After the approval, opponents said that the conditions were not strong enough to ensure the safety of the neighborhood. The council voted Monday to require a detailed explanation of every condition in the contract between Crestwood and Contra Costa County and to require the removal from the facility of patients who use controlled substances or provide alcohol or drugs to minors. The council voted to finalize on Oct. 20 the terms of the contract, which has not yet been approved by the county Board of Supervisors. Patricia Curtin, an attorney for Crestwood, said the health care company would agree to the conditions even though she had warned earlier that additional contract requirements might lead to a costly lawsuit (Contra Costa Times, 9/17).