Outcomes of Mental Health Crises when Mental Health Professionals Partner with Mental Health Deputies

Abstract

Law enforcement has historically been on the frontlines of the mental health crisis. This expected role is difficult as police officers are not trained as mental health professionals. Collaboration between police officers, mental health professionals, and mental health authorities have produced integral models to assist with the mental health crisis. Crisis intervention teams (CIT), mobile crisis units, and street triage models are highlighted to gain understanding of the components of these models. This study desires to examine a collaborative, recently implemented mental health deputy grant program aimed at diverting mentally ill individuals in crisis from contact with the criminal justice system and connecting individuals in crisis to appropriate treatment services. This exploratory, descriptive design allowed for data to be categorized from a log containing synopses of each encounter over an eight-month span. The relationship between variables of crosstabulated, nominal data was analyzed. Results show that mental health deputies are diverting mentally ill individuals from contact with the criminal justice system, connecting them to emergent treatment services and long-term community services. Outcomes of Mental Health Crises when Mental Health Professionals Partner with Mental Health Deputies A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the School of Social Work Abilene Christian University In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science By Melissa Kay Murray