HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Spotlight Now welcomes Dr. Jim Ireland, director of the city Department of Emergency Services, and Dr. Scott Miscovich, who runs ʻAʻala Respite, for a joint conversation about mental illness and homelessness on Oahu.

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The MH-3 program deploys crisis teams backed by law enforcement to transport mentally ill homeless individuals to health facilities for evaluation, rather than booking them into jail.

Now that the legislature has cut $8 million in funding for medical respite centers, what happens next, and what questions remain about resources, capacity, and continuity of care?

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Community Spotlight: Spill the Tea Cafe

Then on Community Spotlight, Haylin Dennison of Spill the Tea Cafe shares how the program is working to support Hawaii’s LGBTQ youth through life-saving mental health care.

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