The young county of texas will use FY24 pact to create crisis response teams, provide in-depth mental health response and DE-escalation training/exercises for the sheriffs, graham police department,…

The County of Young, Texas was awarded a $392,967 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Office under the Public Safety Partnership and Community Policing Grants program (CFDA 16.710). The grant funding will be used to create crisis response teams, provide in-depth mental health response and de-escalation training for local law enforcement, and have a mental health nurse on staff 24/7 to respond to mental health crises within the county and surrounding towns. This will allow the county to more effectively respond to mental health emergencies and reduce injury and suicide rates. The grant period is from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2026.

The young county of texas will use FY24 pact to create crisis response teams, provide in-depth mental health response and DE-escalation training/exercises for the sheriffs, graham police department, patrol officers and olney police department patrol officers, and have a mental health nurse on staff 24/7. Young county will be able to more effectively respond to mental health crises to decrease the overall injury and suicide rates within the county through these efforts. The presbyterian critical incident response team will provide quarterly training for a two-year period. This training will provide basic and advanced crisis intervention training and individuals will receive a certification from the international critical incident stress foundation, INC. DE-escalation training will be provided by a tcolecertified instructor on a monthly basis for the first year and quarterly thereafter. Additionally, quarterly training exercises will be held by the presbyterian critical incident response team to provide practical application skills for both crisis intervention and DE-escalation combined. The nurses that will be on staff 24/7 to respond to a mental health crisis within the county, above mentioned towns, or jails. The collaboration with the presbyterian critical incident response team will allow young county access to a full-fledged crisis response team to include members to include, but not limited to: pastors, mental health professionals, law enforcement, and firefighters. Two cars will be purchased and placed at strategic locations within the county to allow for rapid response to a mental health crisis that nurses and other members of the presbyterian critical incident response team will have access to. The cars will be equipped with radios, ipads for immediate remote access to the clinician, and first aid kits. Additionally, grounding tools will be available in each car in addition to being provided to each deputy.