Lexington launches team to respond to crisis mental health 911 calls

Lexington will soon have a social worker respond with police to crisis mental health 911 calls.

Thanks to a $850,000 state grant awarded in January , Lexington community-based crisis response team will start in the next few weeks.

"We are taking an enormous step forward," said Mayor Linda Gorton at a Tuesday news conference at City Hall announcing the launch of the new program. "This program will greatly help our first responders respond to mental health emergencies."

The grant will pay for one mental health professional who will accompany police on such calls. In addition, the money will also be used to help pay overtime for 45 Lexington police officers who have received specialized mental health training to respond to crisis calls.

The fire department recently hired Chris Perrine, who has a master's degree in clinical mental health counseling, to be the city's on-call social worker.

The grant is for three years. The city's cost is $75,000 over the course of the three-year grant.

Assistant Police Chief Brian Maynard said the new team will allow "crucial mental health resources to be provided to individuals in need more quickly and hopefully help provide the individuals with a path out of crisis."

Fire officials said the team is an expansion of the city's emergency response services. Doing things the same way does not always help or address citizens' needs.

Fire Chief Jason Wells said the grant will help them respond with "compassion and strength. It's a decisive step in our city's evolution of what a first responder does."

Evolution of emergency psychiatric care

Mental health advocates have long pushed for the creation of crisis response teams that are focused on treatment rather than punishment.

Too many times, a person with mental health needs ends up in jail rather than getting the help they need, advocates have long argued.

According to Lexington police data, the city receives approximately 3,000 mental health crisis calls a year.

The new team will work weekdays, which is when the city sees the most calls for mental health services, fire officials said.

Fire Capt. Seth Lockard, who oversees the department's Community Paramedicine program, wrote the grant for the new program. Lockard said as part of the grant they are also going to be drilling down into police call data to determine how many of the calls are mental health calls. It's likely the city is seeing more than 3,000 mental health calls per year.

"Maybe when the call comes in, it may appears to be something else," Lockard said.

Many police departments across the country have moved to adding social workers to help police respond to calls. Lexington was one of seven Kentucky cities or counties to be awarded grants to help first responders augment services for those in crisis.

But it's also part of a community-wide effort to better address those with psychiatric emergencies.

In July , Eastern State Hospital, one of the state's main psychiatric hospitals, opened a psychiatric emergency room called EmPATH or Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment and Healing unit. It's the first of its kind in Kentucky. There are 30 such units across the country. It's operated in collaboration with New Vista, the area's community mental health provider.

Staff at those units can help someone experiencing a psychiatric emergency connect immediately with services. The units also closely track those who have been admitted to ensure they make doctor's appointments. Lack of consistent care can often exacerbate a mental illness.

Lockard said Lexington is fortunate to have more resources available to treat the city's most vulnerable population.

"There are so many things that are happening. It's very rewarding," Lockard said.