Gary council votes to fund mobile mental health unit
$1.5 million in ARPA money to fund crisis response team
The Gary Common Council voted on Tuesday to fund the creation of a mobile crisis response team.
The city will allocate $1.5 million from the American Rescue Plan Act to the initiative, which will see mental health professionals assisting police and responding in their place to non-violent mental health crises in the city.
The vote to fund the program was the culmination of years of work by activists and city officials. Making crisis intervention teams available to Gary residents was among the recommendations issued by the Gary Police Reform Commission, which Mayor Jerome Prince assembled in 2020.
One anticipated benefit of incorporating mental health professionals into the city’s response to emergencies is a reduction in police use of force against city residents suffering from mental illness. In June of 2022, a Gary police officer fatally shot 64-year-old Robert J. Collins in his home. Collins, who had a gun, was reportedly experiencing a mental health crisis at the time of his death.
Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter, who is tasked with investigating police shootings, said at the meeting that even many justifiable use of force incidents can be prevented through the involvement of mental health resources.
“We have to have alternatives,” he said.
A crowd of around 50 activists and community members gathered at Gary City Hall to show their support for the measure in a demonstration organized by the Lake County chapter of the Interfaith Action Network. Several participants spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting.
“We expect to see fewer of our youth sent to detention when what they really need is mental health practitioners,” Charlotte Hawkins, co-chair of the Interfaith Action Network, said.
Emily Gorman, AARP Indiana Director of Community Engagement, lauded the plan as a boon for the city’s seniors.
“When it comes to issue of increasing access to mental and behavioral health Gary is leading the way,” she told the council.
The crowd cheered after all eight council members in attendance voted for the budget appropriation. Councilwoman Tai
Adkins, D-4th, was absent.
At-large Councilwoman Lori Latham stressed the importance of ongoing work on mental health care to the crowd.
“We want this group back every year advocating for the next rung of mental health services, because we know that the safest communities are not the ones with the most police in them,” she said. “The safest communities are the ones that treat the whole person, that have the best jobs the best educational opportunities, the best public health services.”
Both community speakers and city officials spoke of Gary’s mobile crisis response team program as a potential model for the rest of the state. The Interfaith Action Network has urged the
Indiana House of Representatives to pass Senate Bill 1, which would would implement a statewide mental health crisis response system. The bill was passed unanimously by the Senate on February 13.
The city’s next step will be to put out a request for proposals from contractors who will help the city implement the program.