Law Enforcement Behavioral Health Response Program

The Battle Creek Police Department (BCPD) in partnership with Summit Pointe (Calhoun County Community Mental Health) is applying for this funding to support the first Mobile Crisis Response Team in the area. This will assist local law enforcement-behavioral health cross-system collaborations to improve public health, safety responses and outcomes for individuals with mental health disorders (MHD) and co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders (MHSUDs). The goal of this initiative is to promote effective strategies by BCPD to identify and reduce the risk of harm to individuals with MHDs or co-occurring MHSUDs who encounter BCPD and improve public safety as well as connect to community resources.

The population of the City of Battle Creek is 52,721, the ethnic composition is composed of 68.2% White, 17.3% Black, 0.6% American Indian & Alaska Native, 3.7% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian & Other Pacific Islander, 8.1% two or more races, 2.1% other races.  There are approximately 20,690 households in the city of which the number of persons per household is 2.40.  The target population are households within the city.  The poverty rate is 22.7% and we are seeking priority consideration. We will also be seeking priority consideration for advancing the department’s priorities by advancing racial equity and support for underserved communities through the federal government. Pages 4-9 of the Project Narrative explain the urgency for priority consideration.

Calhoun County, of which the City of Battle Creek is the largest metropolitan area, ranks in the bottom 10% of Michigan counties for healthy behaviors/overall health outcomes. Residents report an average 4.5 days/month of poor mental health, higher than surrounding counties in Michigan and 1.45 times higher than top US counties (CountyHealthRankings.org). Bronson Hospital reports that psychoses hospitalization rates in Calhoun County (64.4 per 10,000) are 41% higher than other Michigan counties (Bronson, 2016). Suicide is a particular concern as suicide deaths, 17 deaths per 100,000 people, outpace the state and nation, both 13 deaths per 100,000 people (Bronson, 2016).

BCPD has received a previous JMHCP grant (2019-MO-BX-0039) for expansion of their CIT program county-wide.  In coordination with the training of these officers, dispatchers, and correction officers CIT training, the BCPD is requesting $519,224 for 3 years to plan and effectively implement BCPD’s First Mobile Crisis Response Team by CPS providing a case manager, Calhoun County to provide a probation officer, and Summit Pointe to provide (2) clinicians to target preliminarily qualified individuals with MHD’s or MHSUD’s.