Gun violence response network with mental health access - the city of ST

Louis mental health board of trustees is the fiscal agent for the ST. Louis area violence prevention commission (VPC). VPC created the gun violence response network (gvrn) in 2020 as a step toward the objective of coordinating the community-level response to nonfatal shootings. IT is a network of service providers with multiple entry points, a coordinated intake, and wraparound services for victims of violence. VPC convened victim service providers through the its service delivery committee to identify unmet needs for victims of nonfatal shootings, to work with united way 2-1-1 on a first of its kind gun violence intake, and to partner with resource agencies to meet victims' needs. The most unmet needs that the committee members identified were mental healthcare, employment, basic needs (like utility assistance), and funds to fix property damage. VPC's objective to coordinate services for victims was created in response to the department of justice's (DOJ) diagnostic analysis for the city of ST. Louis from 2017 which recommended that interventions focus on nonfatal shootings to interrupt the escalating cycle of violence. Victims of crime are also more likely than nonvictims to develop post-traumatic stress disorder. Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder include difficulty sleeping, difficulty performing actions of daily life, irritability and flashbacks. All of these can negatively impair functioning and increase the likelihood of future victimization. ST. Louis city has recently launched two new initiatives that VPC has partnered to implement. The first is a 911 diversion program that will allow callers with a mental health crisis to receive an unarmed clinician response. The second is a CO-responder model in which clinicians and social workers will ride along with police officers to respond to individuals in need of assistance. The gvrn provides a referral method for law enforcement and community partners to connect victims and families to services. To ensure that the community response system is comprehensive, VPC has also launched the handle with care program to enhance communication between law enforcement and schools when children witness and are involved in traumatic events. This notification system will ensure that schools can serve as critical connection points for youth and their families who experience traumatic events in the community that may otherwise go undetected by school staff. The gvrn anticipates serving 600 victims of nonfatal shootings between ST. Louis city and ST. Louis county and linking them to mental health and other support services during the year of grant funding. As mentioned, mental health care is an unmet need of many victims. Provident behavioral health's access center offers same-day of next-day $5 therapeutic appointments provided by student therapists and overseen by a licensed master's-level clinical therapist two days per week. The access center's goal is to make quality behavioral health services accessible by providing timely and affordable services to people in need. This prevents people form facing long wait times to begin services with a therapist and prevents people in crisis from relaying on local emergency rooms for behavioral health issues. Provident seeks to expand the access center program to include more student therapists in order to serve more people, up to 500 during the grant period, including those referred through the gvrn. In addition to clinical services, VPC will work with community partners to increase access to peer supports in communities disproportionately affected by gun violence.