Pilot Program in NYC to send behavioral health team to some mental health 911 calls

essentialsaltes · Jul 23, 2021

LINK

A New York City pilot program that sends social workers instead of police officers to respond to mental health crisis calls is showing some early signs of success, according to data from the city.

Once the teams arrived on scene, about 95% of the people in crisis accepted medical assistance. When there is a traditional response from police and EMS workers, about 82% of people in crisis accept help.

The data shows behavioral health teams also were more selective about the kind of medical help offered to patients.

When responding to mental health calls, police officers and paramedics typically send 82% of patients to a hospital for treatment, according to the data. The teams of social workers only transported about half of patients to the hospital, and all of them received follow-up care. The teams also treated about 25% of patients at the scene and transported another 20% to community-based centers, according to the data.

cow451 · Jul 23, 2021

essentialsaltes said:
LINK

A New York City pilot program that sends social workers instead of police officers to respond to mental health crisis calls is showing some early signs of success, according to data from the city.

Once the teams arrived on scene, about 95% of the people in crisis accepted medical assistance. When there is a traditional response from police and EMS workers, about 82% of people in crisis accept help.

The data shows behavioral health teams also were more selective about the kind of medical help offered to patients.

When responding to mental health calls, police officers and paramedics typically send 82% of patients to a hospital for treatment, according to the data. The teams of social workers only transported about half of patients to the hospital, and all of them received follow-up care. The teams also treated about 25% of patients at the scene and transported another 20% to community-based centers, according to the data.

The article says “behavioral health”, not “social workers”. That could include actual Social Workers, Psychologists, Professional Counselors, Nurses and others with graduate degrees. More likely these will be bachelor level interventionists.

The devil is in the details but law enforcement tends to be the front line of mental health now that taxpayers decided that the chronically and persistent mentally ill are throwaways.

Sorry for the rant

FireDragon76 · Jul 23, 2021

Who is going to protect these social workers when they are dealing with somebody who is mentally ill and armed with a weapon?

wing2000 · Jul 23, 2021

FireDragon76 said:
Who is going to protect these social workers when they are dealing with somebody who is mentally ill and armed with a weapon?

...from the linked article:
If there is a threat of violence or weapon involved in the mental health emergency, NYPD officers will respond with the behavioral health experts, the city said.

Landon Caeli · Jul 23, 2021

I don’t like the term "mentally ill"... I think it creates a stigma denoting people as sick, or dirty.

cow451 · Jul 23, 2021

FireDragon76 said:
Who is going to protect these social workers when they are dealing with somebody who is mentally ill and armed with a weapon?

They are pretty good with harsh language.

Bradskii · Jul 23, 2021

Think of the money the police will save on ammo.

Aldebaran · Jul 23, 2021

wing2000 said:
...from the linked article:
If there is a threat of violence or weapon involved in the mental health emergency, NYPD officers will respond with the behavioral health experts, the city said.

In an incident where a person who is mentally ill is considered to be an "emergency", it means they are capable or likely to harm themselves or others. By definition, that is considered violent.

Bradskii · Jul 23, 2021

Aldebaran said:
In an incident where a person who is mentally ill is considered to be an "emergency", it means they are capable or likely to harm themselves or others. By definition, that is considered violent.

So the police would attend. From the article (surely you read it...):

"New York's pilot program is inspired by a similar effort in Eugene, Oregon, which has been praised as a national success for its handling of mental health crisis calls.

There, CAHOOTS (Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets), a mobile crisis intervention unit, responds to 911 calls related social service-related issues. The program diverts between 5% and 8% of all 911 calls away from the police department, according to the city of Eugene.

If the behavioral health experts arrive on scene and believe that law enforcement are better suited to handle the emergency, they will call officers."

The vast majority of the incidents where CAHOOTS attended were welfare checks, perhaps checking someone sleeping rough, assisting the public, such as those who felt the need for counselling or injury assesment where medical help had been refused and transport, where someone might need to get to hospital for non emergency treatment.

You can find a pdf report of the system in Eugene by following a couple of links starting with the one above. It appears to work quite well. But then, defunding the police - or more accurately, reallocating some funds, is going to result in some people arguing against this however well it works.

Landon Caeli · Jul 23, 2021

I've been watching this documentary series today. I recommend it as far as familiarizing yourselves with the general topic.

Mysteries of Mental Illness | PBS

Aldebaran · Jul 23, 2021

Bradskii said:
So the police would attend. From the article (surely you read it...):

"New York's pilot program is inspired by a similar effort in Eugene, Oregon, which has been praised as a national success for its handling of mental health crisis calls.

There, CAHOOTS (Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets), a mobile crisis intervention unit, responds to 911 calls related social service-related issues. The program diverts between 5% and 8% of all 911 calls away from the police department, according to the city of Eugene.

If the behavioral health experts arrive on scene and believe that law enforcement are better suited to handle the emergency, they will call officers."

The vast majority of the incidents where CAHOOTS attended were welfare checks, perhaps checking someone sleeping rough, assisting the public, such as those who felt the need for counselling or injury assesment where medical help had been refused and transport, where someone might need to get to hospital for non emergency treatment.

You can find a pdf report of the system in Eugene by following a couple of links starting with the one above. It appears to work quite well. But then, defunding the police - or more accurately, reallocating some funds, is going to result in some people arguing against this however well it works.

If only 5% to 8% of calls are diverted from police, then it shows that 92% to 95% of 911 calls still require the presence of a police officer.

Bradskii · Jul 23, 2021

Aldebaran said:
If only 5% to 8% of calls are diverted from police, then it shows that 92% to 95% of 911 calls still require the presence of a police officer.

Your maths is pretty impressive. Congrats.

Aldebaran · Jul 23, 2021

Bradskii said:
Your maths is pretty impressive. Congrats.

Glad you approve.

Pilot Program in NYC to send behavioral health team to some mental health 911 calls

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