Today, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) announced that she secured $260,000 in federal funding for the Oakland County Health Network to facilitate the hiring of two mental health specialists who will partner with the Auburn Hills Police, Birmingham Police, and Bloomfield Township Police Departments. The goal of this partnership is to better assist those who are in crisis in our community while supporting our law enforcement officers who are so often the first and only responders in times of acute crisis.
“According to reported studies, it is estimated that 10% of all 911 calls in the United States involve a person who is suffering from a serious mental health issue,” said Rep. Haley Stevens. “These calls are often at a crisis level, and police are overwhelmingly the sole first responders on the scene. This funding will allow for the hiring of two mental health clinicians who will assist multiple police departments in responding to a mental health crisis. It will also allow for crisis intervention and mental health training for all law enforcement officers in Auburn Hills, Birmingham and Bloomfield Township. The work that our brave law enforcement officers do in our communities is so often overlooked and I am proud to have secured funding to help make our communities even safer.”
This program seeks to build a partnership between Auburn Hills Police, Birmingham Police, Bloomfield Township Police, and the Oakland Community Health Network (OCHN, the community mental health authority in Oakland County). This federal funding would facilitate the hiring of two mental health clinicians who will be contracted by the three participating agencies from OCHN. It will also provide a vehicle and communication equipment for the clinician so that they can have flexibility to move about freely among the three communities, to respond to crisis situations and follow-up with families, the hospitals, and courts. Funding will also provide much needed Crisis Intervention Team training and Mental Health First Aid training to 100% of all sworn police officers in all three agencies (150 police officers).
Rep. Stevens submitted several Community Project Funding requests to the Appropriations Committee, FOUND HERE. Information on the status of additional requests will be announced in the coming days.
The inclusion of this funding in the Appropriations Committee draft bill is the first step in the funding process. Rep. Stevens will continue to fight for this funding as the bill moves to the full Appropriations Committee, consideration on the House Floor, and negotiations with the Senate.
Original source can be found here.
