Partnering with Madison County (OH) Sheriff's Office in supporting a co-responder model (a behavioral health professional responding with law enforcement) when responding to a mental health crisis.

The Mental Health Recovery Board of Clark, Greene & Madison Counties will partner with the Madison County Sheriff to design and implement the Madison County Mobile Crisis Response Team (MCRT), a co-responder program for persons with mental health disorders or co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders who encounter law enforcement in rural Madison County (MC), Ohio. Ohio has the 8th highest prevalence of adult mental illness in the United States at 24%. MCs prevalence is the same. Mental Health Disorders are associated with suicide and overdose. Although rates of mental health disorders are similar between rural and urban areas, rural adults are less likely to access treatment and experience behavioral health disparities.

MC’s crisis continuum lacks mobile crisis services, identified by MC behavioral health treatment providers as the greatest unmet crisis need in the county. Lack of crisis services result in law enforcement serving as the de facto emergency response system for behavioral health crises, hindering public safety and increasing arrest and fatal encounters. 25% of MC booked inmates screen positive for a mental health or drug issue. The Mental Health Recovery Board and the Madison County Sheriff will form a law enforcement behavioral health collaboration that will lead cross-system teams in the design and implementation of the MCRT to build crisis capacity.

The MCRT meets a BJA programmatic priority as co-responder programs are an effective strategy to identify and reduce harm to target persons to improve public safety. The MCRT will provide rapid access to crisis services to reduce jail bookings and improve treatment linkage among persons with mental health disorders/co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders to prevent future crises. Coordination across partners will build crisis capacity to bring the right response and responders at the right time to reduce law enforcement involvement and connect people to treatment. There are no planned conference activities for the recommended award.