A collaborative of police agencies, mental health organizations, emergency response and universities shared updates on Thursday night to changes being made to Erie County’s mental health crisis system.
The Crisis to Care Collaborative showcased partners in Erie County, Buffalo Police, Best Self and Crisis Services in a panel discussion about how feedback has shaped their combined approach to mental health calls and crises.
Buffalo Police Commissioner Erika Shields told BTPM an important part of this work for law enforcement is developing a co-response model with mental health providers.
“I think what's really key is that we build out a successful co-response model, so that when available, that we have caseworkers going out with us, so that we have people who this is this is all they do, is and we can lean on their expertise to handle the call as effectively as possible.”
In some local municipalities, this includes either contracting with a mental health services agency or hiring caseworkers that go out with police on mental health calls. According to Crisis to Care, every day in Buffalo “approximately 18 calls to 911 are coded as behavioral health-related.”
Paige Hawkins, Best Self’s Vice President of Clinic Services and Care Coordination, says they’ve been able to implement feedback from the get-go with their new crisis diversion center, BestResponse. BestResponse addresses a critical gap in crisis mental health care by also serving children.
“We have a place for family support. So the child may come in, with the family members, as the one who is the identified individual needing our care at that time. But then, throughout the stabilization process, we end up treating the family as a whole, and that care and that level of care and the time that we have to work with an individual and family separates our intensive center from what we've seen in the community so far," Hawkins said.
A full room of participants were also invited to question the panelists about their initiatives and changes they could make. Before and after the panel, over 10 local organizations shared mental health resources at tables.
