Georgia passes bill mandating co-responder
♦ The sheriff is already looking for somebody to fit the job — helping with calls related to mental health issues.
A new law that will require community service boards to institute a “co-responder” program to deal with mental-health related calls will go into effect July 1.
Floyd County Sheriff Dave Roberson has been working on a similar program for about a year now and has been looking to hire or train an officer who would oversee calls that involve people who may be affected by mental illness.
Over the last year, he met with other Georgia sheriffs who have this program to see how it works.
“Basically, they have a person that would be dedicated to mental health and the behavioral health provider in that area, which would be Highland Rivers for us,” he said. “They would have a mental health professional ride with them during their shift. They would be the ones answering mental health calls.”
Roberson said he is open to the idea, but he wants to put someone in that position “that lasts,” who would stay with the sheriff’s office for the long-term.
While Floyd County doesn’t have a co-responder program, local law enforcement has other programs in place to help those with mental illness, such as the mental health accountability court and the mental health unit at the jail, which opened in March.
The sheriff’s office also is working with the Rome chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness on training their officers to deal with people in crisis and what to do on those calls. Roberson said they also have quarterly meetings with stakeholders to address issues with mental health. The next one is in August.
Local law enforcement agencies are increasingly turning to co-responder programs to deal with the number of mental healthrelated emergency calls. When a call comes in, mental health experts are sent out with police officers to help people suffering from mental illness or substance abuse.
About 40% of calls to law enforcement agencies are related to mental health, several police chiefs said in recent interviews.
Though statewide data is difficult to find, at least seven departments have established such programs. Dekalb County’s program has been around since the 1990s, while Albany started a new program just weeks ago.
Brookhaven, Gainesville, Forsyth County, Lagrange, Athens-clarke County, and Savannah also have co-responder programs.
Senate Bill 403 requires community service boards to establish a co-responder program that will provide consultations to law enforcement officers responding to people with behavioral health problems. There are 22 such CSBS across the state providing behavioral health services to Georgia communities.
The law also clarifies that mental health professionals can advise law enforcement agents on whether the person needs immediate emergency treatment or subsequent referral to services instead of arrest.
And CSB mental health staffers can look at arrest records and recommend that people in jail be provided with behavioral health treatment instead of remaining in the criminal justice system.