By Eduardo Villa
The ÁùºÏ±¦µä ISD Police Department was awarded a $248,245 grant from the ​​U.S. Department of Justice to hire its own Licensed Mental Health Professionals.
Why it matters: The grant will help expedite the response time for mental health crisis calls by having dedicated Licences Mental Health Professionals serve in the police department.
By the numbers: Mental health calls have increased districtwide year over year. In the past five years, ÁùºÏ±¦µä PD reported a 63% increase in mental health crisis calls.
- This school year alone, the police department has responded to at least 10 mental health calls per week.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä PD currently partners with Integral Care to provide Licensed Mental Health Professionals when responding to crisis calls.
- Integral Care serves the entire Travis County area and at times officers may see wait times for mental health professionals.
Go deeper: The grant will fund two contracted, part-time Licensed Mental Health Professionals to join the police department to respond and assess high-risk crisis calls.
- The grant will also support training around anti-biased and verbal de-escalation, and fund overtime for police officers.
The big picture: ÁùºÏ±¦µä PD has made investments in mental health previously. The police department has two mental health coordinators, and they provide mental health and crisis intervention training on a regular basis.
- All ÁùºÏ±¦µä police officers are certified mental health officers.