Overview
Mental health challenges may lead to a variety of unfavorable outcomes, including homelessness, frequent law enforcement interaction, incarceration and emergency room visits. Each of those scenarios is more intrusive and more costly for communities and detrimental for individuals compared to early interventions through local behavioral health services.
Mental health challenges may lead to a variety of unfavorable outcomes, including homelessness, frequent law enforcement interaction, incarceration and emergency room visits. Each of those scenarios is more intrusive and more costly for communities and detrimental for individuals compared to early interventions through local behavioral health services.
Seeing that impact and a corresponding need for additional behavioral health resources, Franklin County established a Mental Health Co-Responder Program in 2017 to embed mental health professionals with law enforcement agencies to respond collaboratively to individuals in crisis, provide the right intervention at the right time to avoid arrests, emergency room visits, and repeat 911 calls by connecting those individuals to appropriate resources.
When police are dispatched to an incident where an individual’s behavior does not escalate to the level of police custody, the mental health co-responder is called to begin a screening and risk assessment process to determine the needed level of care. In addition to helping reduce criminal justice system involvement for individuals who may be living with a mental illness, intellectual or developmental disability, autism, and/or co-occurring disorder, the program has had the added benefit of helping connect senior citizens with available services.
There are currently co-responders with the Chambersburg, Greencastle, Washington Township and Waynesboro police departments. These co-responders work collaboratively within their own law enforcement agencies, but also with the Franklin County Department of Emergency Services, Franklin County’s adult and juvenile probation departments, Franklin County Jail, and a variety of human service agencies.
This program was initiated thanks to funding from a Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) grant and continues today with support from the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, and the Chambersburg and Waynesboro police departments.
In 2018, the National Association of Counties (NACo) recognized Franklin County’s co-responder program with a Justice Public Safety Achievement Award for being a model program.