Four cities in Dallas County have launched a partnership to improve emergency response to mental health calls. "The Southeast Alliance Community Care Team" is being launched with a $900,000 grant from the County.
The cities of Balch Springs, Mesquite, Seagoville, and Sunnyvale say they could not afford to budget for improved mental health responses on their own, so they are partnering on the effort.
When police respond to a 911 call, they can now call on a community care team to respond instead of officers. The team consists of a paramedic and social worker from Parkland.
"This is not a Democrat or Republican problem. It's a humanitarian problem," says Balch Springs City Manager Susan Cluse.
Melissa Carr, the coordinator of the program, says one in six kids and one in five adults will deal with a mental health condition. She says 20% of public safety calls deal with mental health issues.
"Now, for the first time in a very long time, I feel like, as a social worker, we're going to be able to do something to bring that number down," she says.
Carr says the team will help the person find services they need, refer them to therapy or other services and follow up with them.
"The need is there. There's a social concern, whether that be for food, whether that be for housing, utilities, anything," she says.
Cliff Keheley, city manager of Mesquite, says the idea sprung from learning about a similar program in Oregon.
"They proactively work with residents to follow up on issues and provide transportation to make sure people in need found the care they deserve," he says.
Keheley says the effort to connect people with services led to a long-term drop in the number of calls about mental health issues.
Carr says future expansions could include additional care teams, homeless outreach and improved training for first responders interacting with someone dealing with a mental health issue.
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