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Date: 2/16/2022
SOUTH HADLEY – Continuing their efforts to promote and create more efficient responses to mental health and crisis calls, the South Hadley Police Department has received grant funding of $30,450 from the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health under the Co-Response-Jail Diversion Program.
This Massachusetts Department of Mental Health grant will fund a mental health clinician to respond with police to calls for service in the communities of South Hadley and Granby, which was also awarded regionally with South Hadley.
With a clinician on scene with officers the goal is to be able to provide comprehensive services to those community members who struggle with their mental health and wellness or are in crisis. The clinician will be provided by Behavioral Health Network (BHN) which has already been the regional provider of comprehensive behavioral health services for adults, children and families for the two towns.
“We can acknowledge as police officers we are not licensed clinicians. We are not the best suited, equipped and trained to be able to handle crisis calls, but we’re the 24/7 emergency services in our community,” said South Hadley Police Chief Jennifer Gundersen. “The co-responder model, led by a licensed clinician, is the best way to connect our South Hadley community members with the mental health services they deserve.”
Both the South Hadley Police Department (SHPD) and the Granby Police Department have robust Crisis Response Teams within their departments. Gundersen said the “seven or eight” trained officers at the SHPD are expected to respond to crisis calls and trained to identify someone in crisis and articulate help for them and resources available to help them in crisis. The same applies in Granby.
“The Granby Police Department has been working with Behavioral Health Network and all of our officers have attended Crisis Intervention Team Training,” said Granby Police Chief Kevin O’Grady in a press release of the grant announcement. “This grant will allow officers to co-respond with a licensed clinician and provide the resident with the mental health services they need, including follow-up assistance.”
BHN President and CEO Steve Winn said in the press release that BHN was proud to partner and train law enforcement to provide co-response within the local communities.
“We are pleased to be bringing a better understanding of behavioral health issues to officers in South Hadley and other local communities, and to be joining them in responding to those in need,” said Winn.
Gundersen credits officer Cindy Boyle, who oversees the crisis intervention team (CIT) in the SHPD, for stepping up in this leadership role and assisting in a collective effort for change within the Police Department. Incorporating this program is an evolution of policing practices with hopes of better results among crisis situations.
“It’s called a jail diversion program because we divert people from jail. People that shouldn’t be in the criminal justice system but need an emergency response, we help,” Gundersen said. “We want to be able to have a clinician with a face to face interaction that further instills in the consumer the confidence of the system.”
Another pro of incorporating these new practices according to Gundersen is being able to divert people from hospitals as well as jails and giving people direct help as opposed to having them sit in an emergency room. Altogether, if the SHPD can be more efficient with their calls and be able to handle crisis calls in their own respect, it will be a win for the department.
“We want to see a reduction in call volume, not because we want to do less work, but we want to do better and more efficient work,” Gundersen said. “We’ve seen individuals that we have had multiple dealings with, but we have seen when we do it right with a clinician and a CIT officer, those call responses diminished. Not because they don’t need help, but that they’re going to the right place for help and getting help.”
This grant period funds the clinician and co-response model from Jan. 1, 2022 through June 30, 2022. According to Gundersen, instilling this program for years to come is a goal of the department and something she is very confident will be extended grant funding another fiscal year, but said is never a guarantee with the legislature side of things.