The tampa police department (TPD) is the lead applicant and requesting grant funding to integrate professionally trained intervention specialists in the 911 call center to create a crisis intervention…

The tampa police department (TPD) is the lead applicant and requesting grant funding to integrate professionally trained intervention specialists in the 911 call center to create a crisis intervention dispatch service (CIDS) program. The CIDS program addresses the priority area of DOJ 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. The program will also promote racial equity and removal of barriers for access to services in historically underserved populations in tampa. A key implementation partner is the crisis center of tampa BAY who will provide intervention specialists to be integrated into the CIDS program and available for diverted calls from the TPA 911 dispatch. TPD currently also has a behavioral health unit (BHU) which provides field clinicians to CO-respond with the police for behavioral mental health related calls. The licensed clinician provides immediate clinical engagement for the individual during a crisis, including a risk and needs assessment. The licensed clinician then warmly handoffs the individual to a case manager to provide wrap around services. The intention is to refer individuals from the CIDS program to the BHU as appropriate. Between 2019-2021, the tampa police department received an average of 6,600 mental health related calls per year, equating to an average of 18 mental health related calls per day. So far this year, the tampa police department is averaging 22 mental health calls per day. Many of these calls come from underserved populations in the city who lack access and affordable services to assist them during a crisis and even prior to a crisis through provision of wrap around services such as housing, substance and mental health counseling and treatment, and others. Through provision of the CIDS and BHU programs, TPD's goal is to decrease the number of per capita mental health related calls for service over the project period. Neither the city of tampa nor the tampa police department are previous recipients of the connect and protect: law enforcement behavioral health response grant funds.