CLEVELAND — A report released Wednesday makes the case for launching a health-first approach to responding to mental health crises in Cleveland.
“We have an opportunity here. There's a funding moment. There's a moment of attention,” said Piet van Lier, a senior researcher at Policy Matters Ohio. “How do we provide a response? How do we keep, especially, our black and brown neighbors safe?”
The nonprofit, progressive think tank explained there has been a growing push for new approaches to mental health and behavioral health crises that reduce the reliance on armed law enforcement.
RELATED: Advocates call for mental health experts, not police, to respond in crises
“We are not suggesting that the police are not needed. There are times when they are. We applaud them, it’s a tough job,” said Lori D’Angelo, the executive director at Magnolia Clubhouse. “There can and should be alternatives to a police response when the police aren’t needed.”
The psychiatric rehabilitation center near Cleveland’s University Circle focuses on building community for people living with mental illness. D’Angelo said statistics for mental illness reveal a national crisis, where one in four people live with mental illness, yet fewer than half receive treatment.
“The more there would be psychiatric rehabilitation [resources], the less there’s going to be a need for crisis services,” she explained. “But in the meantime, we need to do the best we can with those approaches as well, while we build up the other mental health resources people are in need of.”
Magnolia Clubhouse has been advocating for a "care response" model since being approached by its counterpart in New York City in the wake of the George Floyd tragedy in Minneapolis.
The Policy Matters Ohio report concluded the common system of mental health crisis response has deepened inequality, consumed resources and caused unnecessary harm.
Its research found Black Ohioans, who make up 13% of Ohio’s population and 45% of the people in Ohio state prisons, are incarcerated at 5.6 times the rate of white Ohioans. An estimated 40% of people incarcerated in Ohio are living with mental illness.
“We know that there are people out there who just need help and support that police aren't necessarily trained to do,” explained van Lier. “If police can stop responding to a certain type of call, and we allow other people to handle it, that gives the police more time to focus on the work they're trained to do.”
Local leaders, including Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, have shown support for alternative responses, as well as adding a fourth mental health option for 911 callers. He said it would help alleviate conflict and an understaffed division of police.
“Investing in preventative ways to tackle violent crime and to stop crime before it starts… I think mental health will be a key part of those investments,” Mayor Bibb told News 5 on Aug. 9th.
Cleveland has already ramped up crisis intervention training for its officers.
The city also has a co-responder pilot program, which pairs social workers with police. In that approach, officers clear the scene before clinicians engage people in mental health crises. Shaker Heights operates a similar co-responder model. Both are operating on a trial basis with limited hours.
Advocates say increased training and co-responder options are both promising steps. They also hope to incorporate the care response model for lower risk situations.
“We don’t just assume any kind of crisis is a safety issue,” D’Angelo said. “Instead, [we should] inform and have the resources to address a crisis that has more to do with mental health symptoms and isn’t a problem related to safety.”
The report also proposed leveraging funding from the American Rescue Plan Act [ARPA], new and existing medicaid payments and money from Ohio’s opioid settlements.
Research finds some cities who have incorporated the care response model actually save money long-term. In one example out of Eugene, Oregon, a program in place for decades runs an annual budget of $2.1 million, but saves the local police department an estimated $8.5 million annually.
Policy Matters Ohio issued the following recommendations to local leaders in its report:
- Immediately begin to scale up a mobile crisis response pilot based on the care response model.
Provide funding through the Cuyahoga County ADAMHS Board or other sources, leveraging available federal matching funds as described in this report.
- Convene partners at the local and state level to review potential state matching options.
- Determine which path minimizes or eliminates expenses on the local and state levels.
- Launch an effort with an eye towards permanence and sustainability.
- Call on Ohio to accelerate statewide access to care response programs linked to the rollout of 988.
- Include funding for evaluation of and public reporting on the efficacy of CIT, Co-response and Care Response programs in place or being planned at the local level.
- Invest in expanding the peer and behavioral health workforce in Cuyahoga County.
You can read the full report by clicking on this link.
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