County poised to expand response to mental health crises
EL CENTRO – With local public agencies and hospitals responding on average to more than 1,000 mental health crisis cases per year, Imperial County is poised to approve a $3 million state grant to create mobile response units.
The matter is expected to be voted on today by the Board of Supervisors. The grant from the state Department of Health Care Services was awarded to the county in October, according to a report by Behavioral Health Director Leticia Plancarte- Garcia. It would run through June 2025, and no county funds would be needed.
Specifically, the funds allow for the hiring of seven staff members and the purchase of two vehicles for three “Crisis Mobile Care Units.” They would respond to schools, clinics, hospitals and other community locations at which someone is having a mental health crisis. Behavioral Health would oversee its operations.
From the three fiscal years starting in July 2017 and ending in June 2020 there were 3,048 admissions of individuals placed on involuntary holds due to mental health issues, the report states. Most came to the attention of law enforcement or hospital emergency departments.
The grant program is the extension of a pilot program that ran from November 2020 to June 2021 in response to the number of mental health crisis incidents. It consisted of law enforcement and Behavioral Health staff responding to 911 calls involving psychiatric or emotional crises.
Under the grant, the response teams “will make mental health and other supportive services more accessible to those individuals experiencing psychiatric emergencies,” the county report states.
Among the objectives is to “help building a culture of prevention of inpatient hospitalization and involuntary ( mental illness) holds…” the report adds.
Staffing would include two community service workers, two mental health workers, one psychiatric social worker, one program supervisor and one office technician.
A crisis team would respond with law enforcement agencies to 911 calls involving mental health issues from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. A school- based team would respond from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and a care team would respond to hospitals and Behavioral Health outpatient clinics from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week.
The funding would continue the law enforcement team and establish the two others.
While the program would serve all ages, there would be an emphasis on youths up to age 14 and young adults ages 14-26.
The results of the pilot program showed that of the cases responded to 13 percent resulted in involuntary holds by law enforcement, the county report states. It also reduced the time officers were involved in such cases and reduced the number of needing medical clearances.