Project abstract seguin, texas is the county seat for guadalupe county

The City of Seguin, Texas received a $477,029 Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance under the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (CFDA 16.745). The funding will be used to establish a partnership between the Seguin Police Department and the local mental health provider, Bluebonnet Trails Community Services, to embed mental health professionals with the police department and enhance the city's crisis intervention capabilities. Specifically, the grant will fund two Mental Health Peace Officer positions to work directly with Bluebonnet Trails' Crisis Case Manager, allowing for a mental health professional to be integrated into the Police Department's response to individuals experiencing mental health crises. This initiative aims to promote effective law enforcement strategies for identifying and reducing the risk of harm for individuals with mental illness, as well as reduce recidivism rates for this population.

Seguin, just 50 minutes south of austin and 20 minutes east of SAN antonio, has been a historically rural community. According to the 2020 united states census bureau, seguin has a population of 29,433 and has experienced a 16.9% growth rate from 2010. Census data for 2022 shows that 17.9% of seguin residents under 65 years of age are without health insurance, compared to 8.5% nationally. Median household income is $52,041, over 17% live below the poverty level. For the city of seguin, the combination of rapid growth layered with historical levels of poverty provide incredible challenges. The lack of insurance, stigma, and access to service are often cited as major reasons why over 60% of texans do not receive treatment for their mental health issues. Texas is ranked 41 out of 50 states for providing mental health services according to the substance abuse and mental health services administration (samhsa). The community assessment for guadalupe county estimates that 609 people have a diagnosed MI. In 2022, seguin police department (SPD) received 658 mental health crisis calls. When SPD responds, the officer may or may not be trained to assist persons experiencing a mental health crisis. The city of seguin police department (SPD) will partner with bluebonnet trails community services (BBT) to join their crisis intervention team (CIT). BBT is the state authorized mental health provider for guadalupe county. In order to utilize the services of bbts CIT, SPD must have trained mental health peace officers (mhpos) available to BBT. The only local mental health resources available are BBT and paid for by hhsc with state funding. This grant will fund the position of two mhpos to work directly with the BBT crisis case manager. This will allow a mental health professional to be embedded with SPD and access to the BBT CIT. The BBT crisis case manager will be housed with the mhpo. The amount of federal funding requested is $477,029. SPD has previously received jmhcp funds. This program will not use subcontractors. Three program-specific priority areas addressed in the program, 1) promote effective strategies by law enforcement to identify and reduce the risk of harm to individuals with MI/smisa and to public safety, 2) cits have been shown by empirical evidence to reduce recidivism, 3) individuals who will benefit from this program reside in underserved, high-poverty areas.