MOUNT VERNON – The City Council met in committee on Aug. 17, to hear about a 10-month pilot program that could save the city and other health care providers money, while at the same time getting people the help they deserve.
The council, along with 31 participants, logged on to the virtual meeting to hear a presentation from Megan McKee, an intervention specialist and teacher. McKee spent 10 months with the Mount Vernon Police Department (MVPD), working with Cpl. Mike Wheeler on a crisis-intervention basis.
McKee walked the audience through a "Mobile Crisis" slide show before taking questions from council members and city administration.
A mobile crisis team, which is a partnership comprised of a police officer and a social worker, would provide a trauma-informed response for calls of domestic violence, mental health, child abuse, substance abuse and additional 9-1-1 or 2-1-1 calls. The social worker would work to de-escalate the situation while the police officer works to maintain safety during the response.
McKee stressed the importance of the assessment and how it helped in the prevention of unnecessary hospitalizations, additional assessment and even jail time.
"The clinician [social worker] would do the assessment in the field, in the most comfortable and least restrictive environment for the individual. Most of what we found in doing this pilot program was that it prevented all hospitalization trips, and we had very few," she said.
McKee has been researching for the data – in part for her doctoral thesis – to prove that a mobile crisis team is essential.
"This is something I have been really focusing on and making, and really trying to find the data to prove that this is essential in most places," she said.
McKee first cited a three-month evaluation done in the mid-'90s in Gainesville, Georgia. That study showed that 55% of emergencies handled by a mobile crisis team didn't send a person in crisis to a hospital or to jail.
Another study by McKee found that in Toronto, Canada, police were able to implement a plan for a mobile crisis team, which resulted in a 35% drop in the number of mental health calls resulting in people being taken to jail.
A third study cited in McKee's presentation noted the potential cost savings. That particular study was done in 2014 on the crisis calls in Louisville, Kentucky. The CIT (Crisis Intervention Training) program ran a total of $2.4 million per year, but according to the study it had an annual savings of $3.5 million. The balance of $1.1 million came from deferred hospitalization, jail referrals and avoided jail time.
The cost savings analysis was done nine years after the implementation and included a note at the end of the study stating the following: "The net financial effect of a CIT program is of modest benefit. Furthermore, the costs and savings associated with officer or citizen injuries were not included because there was inadequate information about their prevalence and costs."
Tying the studies closer to home, McKee cited the Columbus Police Department. In 2018, CPD reported 20,000 mental health calls, with 5,000 of those calls being handled by a Mobile Crisis Response Unit. Of those specific calls, 800 were transported to a mental health facility, while only six were transported to jail.
According to McKee, there are benefits to the police officers who respond to domestic violence, child abuse and substance abuse incidents. Because police officers respond to numerous cases every day, their repeated exposure to trauma cases creates a complex trauma.
"We're asking them to do a job that I had to go six-to-eight years to [acquire] all of the [necessary] skills to have. It's an almost impossible position to put an officer in, which also causes a lot of complex trauma," McKee said.
A trauma-informed care approach would allow the police officers involved to have access to additional resources of training, debriefings and confidential discussions to treat their complex trauma.
A program, if implemented, could reduce officer stress, reduce retraumatization, bridge the gap between the community and the police department, and help answer the need for change.
"Every community is asking for reallocation of funds for police departments and things like that. Some of those things are somewhat necessary because, again, it goes with they weren't trained to do all the things a social worker has to do," McKee said.
Finishing up with the final 20 minutes of allotted time; McKee, along with Safety-Service Director Rick Dzik and Chief of Police Robert Morgan, took questions from city council members.
"What percentage of MVPD calls do you think this mobile crisis unit would be relevant for?" At-large Councilmember Tanner Salyers asked.
McKee didn't provide an initial percentage during the exchange, but gave an answer of 15-20 calls per week while working only the 4 p.m. to midnight shift.
First-ward Councilmember Samantha Scoles had three questions, asking McKee along with Morgan about the perceived gap between the police department and the community.
"The intimidating factors of having a uniform to talk to as opposed to having somebody in plain clothes, that is able and has the skills to talk to people ... they receive you in a different manner. It's less intimidating," McKee answered.
Scoles then turned her line of questioning to Chief Morgan, asking, "Have there been any discussions with our local agencies that would normally follow up with some of these situations— New Directions, Freedom Center or BHP (Behavioral Health Partners)?"
Direct discussions have not taken place with those agencies, Morgan said.
"I have been a long proponent of the fact [that] just because somebody is in a mental crisis or self-harm crisis or something like that, jail is not the place for most of these people," Morgan said. "Most of these people need other types of assistance. The fact [is] we put them in jail for their safety, because we don't have immediate assets we can turn to, [or] put these people in touch with immediate care with somebody that is qualified to assess it and decide what needs to happen. I think this is huge for us [MVPD]. I spoke to the judge at length about it."
"In some instance, the mobile crisis program could reduce the volume we send to some of these agencies..." Dzik responded after Morgan. "In many instances, though, it may also simply be a matter of having a city resource to immediately put these people who are having crisis situations in touch with ... that [they] may not even know exist."
There will be an open application process, but there is also a question of funding, Dzik said.
"The chief and I, along with (Mount Vernon Fire Department) Chief (Chad) Christopher, because they both pull from the same fund, will figure out how to free up some funding in the budget," Dzik said.
The discussion included going after grants or other funding sources.
Councilman Mike Hillier asked if there was indeed a reduction in repeat offenders; that is, did the program help people?
"We did help a lot of people, we did see a reduction; however, there were instances as well that we did see the same person a couple of times." McKee answered. "We saw reduction of almost no hospitalizations. I think during that time, I can't remember, it was two. We did not take anybody to jail. That was a huge thing."
McKee fielded questions about whether she carried a firearm or wore body armor. She stated that it wasn't needed because the officers made the scene safe.
At the end of the meeting, City Council President Bruce Hawkins asked those who still had questions to reach out to their representatives.
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