The chesterfield county police and the chesterfield county mental health services departments, seek to fund the implementation of CO-response teams as a connect and protect priority, to promote…

The County of Chesterfield, Virginia was awarded a $854,370 Project Grant from the Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance under the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP, CFDA 16.745). The grant will fund the implementation of co-response teams consisting of one mental health professional and one police officer to provide mobile crisis response services from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2025.

The co-response teams are intended to promote effective law enforcement strategies for identifying and reducing risks to individuals with mental health disorders or co-occurring substance use disorders who encounter law enforcement. The teams aim to serve an estimated 700 individuals in crisis per month in Chesterfield County. The grant funds two co-response teams at a cost of $482,555 to provide an alternative to emergency room visits and psychiatric hospitalizations for individuals who could be supported through less intensive care. The program seeks to improve outcomes for individuals while reducing community expenses associated with the current mental health treatment model.

The chesterfield county police and the chesterfield county mental health services departments, seek to fund the implementation of CO-response teams as a connect and protect priority, to promote effective strategies by law enforcement to identify and reduce the risk of harm to individuals with mhds or CO-occurring mhsuds who encounter law enforcement and improve public safety. Implementation of response plan for this proposal is shown in pages 6-10 of the project narrative. Chesterfield county, virginia, home to over 360,000 residents, has answered an average of 1,000 incoming calls to the 24/7 crisis line each month, for the past decade. Many of these calls originate from chesterfield police department and often result in overcrowded emergency rooms and psychiatric units. Significant expenses are currently associated with the current model of mental health treatment in virginia. Each day of psychiatric hospitalization for an individual costs roughly $1,000 whether funded by insurance, or through state allocated regional funds for uninsured individuals. The cost associated with long duration ER admissions, extended hours or multiple days of law enforcement in-custody time, and transportation to designated hospitals, is a huge community expense. This proposed program is designed to facilitate pro-active efficient identification and treatment for community members in needed and thereby stabilizing the community and preventing potentially unnecessary ER and psychiatric hospitalizations. Chesterfield county wishes to address this issue by providing a service to individuals who could be better supported with less intrusive systems of care to improve outcomes for individuals, while also reducing cost. Via this proposal, chesterfield proposes to fund two teams, consisting of one mental health professional and one police officer for mobile CO-response practices, in the amount of $482,555 to serve an estimated 700 individuals in crisis in our county, per month. Chesterfield county sheriff's office has been a previous recipient of jmhcp grant funds (21-D6102MH21).