By ideastream's Brian Bull
A new pilot program will be introduced soon in the City of Cleveland, that’ll pair a psychiatrist and a social worker with a police officer responding to calls involving people with mental health issues.
Officials say under this initiative, Cleveland Police will be accompanied by specialists who can help make sure a situation doesn’t escalate, and proper treatment can be administered to those suffering from a number of psychological problems.
William Denihan is CEO of the Mental Health Services Board of Cuyahoga County. He says this effort will particularly focus on repeat calls that could happen several times in a given week, or even a single night.
“The whole idea is to not only decriminalize mental illness in the criminal justice system, but also reduce the number of calls and be far more effective as to how we’re helping those that have mental illness and/or addiction, on the streets.”
The city’s received $200,000 from what’s called the Federal Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program Grant, and the county mental health services board has contributed an additional $300,000 to cover the pilot program for two years. Denihan plans to launch the program within three months.
Recent cases have highlighted concerns over whether Cleveland Police are prepared to deal with people suffering mental health problems, including the 2014 case of Tanisha Anderson. She died after being restrained and detained by police.