District 5 Councilmember Calls to End Criminalization of Mental Health
Published on October 22, 2024
District 5 Councilmember Calls for Collaborative Action to End the Criminalization of Mental Health Crises
SAN ANTONIO (October 22, 2025) – Councilmember Teri Castillo recently filed a Council Consideration Request to begin addressing the criminalization of individuals experiencing mental health crises by forming a City-County Ad Hoc Committee for a Diversion and Recovery Center. The proposed committee would explore a collaborative model to divert people with mental health needs away from jail and toward treatment, recovery, and stability.
“Too often our neighbors struggling with mental illness end up behind bars instead of receiving the care they need,” said the District 5 Councilmember. “We have an opportunity and an obligation to build a more restorative system that treats people with dignity and focuses on recovery rather than punishment.”
District 5 is home to several key facilities at the heart of this issue, including Haven for Hope, the Bexar County jail, the Center for Health Care Services, and the City’s Magistrate Office.
“Our constituents witness the amount of need in our neighborhoods every day,” Castillo added. “We see people cycling through our jail for low-level offenses like trespassing when what they really need is help.”
In a recent study conducted by the Detention Mental Health Team within the Bexar County Sheriff's Office (DMET), 237 detained people were found incompetent and awaiting hospital beds while detained at the Bexar County jail. Additionally, a recent San Antonio Report article highlighted that a monthly average of 152 detainees with mental health identifiers remain in the jail with no other place to go while they await trial or to get tested for Intellectual and Developmental Disability. The psychiatric state hospital has only 200 beds, a long wait list and is unable to meet demand, resulting in extended stays and repeat incarceration.
In 2024, Dr. Alexander Testa and his team completed a study called the Bexar County Justice Intake and Assessment Annex Evaluation Study, where he addresses the growing phenomenon by offering a Diversion Center as a solution similar to the Judge Ed Emmett Jail Diversion Program in Harris County. Councilmember Castillo visited that facility to learn how its model could be replicated locally.
"The Harris County Diversion Center offered hope for a more restorative option in order to not only address mental health but the root causes of low-level offenses. This partnership between the City and the County is not only necessary, but also possible to bring our constituents relief, love, and hope,” said the District 5 Councilmember.
The Harris County model, operated by the Harris Center for Mental Health & IDD, has diverted more than 10,000 detainees since 2018 by offering 24/7 services and accepting detainees from all law enforcement agencies. It provides a comprehensive continuum of care, including psychiatric assessment, medication management, substance use treatment, peer support, and post-release case management.
The District 5 Councilmember’s proposal seeks to initiate local collaboration between mental health professionals, social workers, law enforcement, judges, reentry services, and policymakers to design a similar, sustainable approach for Bexar County.