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Funds to aid mental health program

Press-Republican - 9/15/2021

Sep. 15—PLATTSBURGH — A local official hopes state funding will help connect people who struggle with behavioral health issues to the supports and services they need sooner rather than later.

During a recent meeting of the Clinton County Legislature's Health Committee, County Director of Community Services Richelle Gregory shared that the state had identified the county as a community with a higher incarceration rate of those with serious mental illness than the rest of the state.

OWE IT TO COMMUNITY

As a result, the state Office of Mental Health could provide up to $300,000 to support law enforcement diversion, a process through which officers help refer those they come in contact with to services.

Gregory, who leads the Clinton County Mental Health and Addiction Services department, has submitted a proposal and is awaiting word on if the county will be awarded funding, how much and when.

"People are struggling and we owe it to our community to work together to create a system that is empathetic and supportive," she said. "The intersection of law enforcement and behavioral health is the foundation (on which) to build that system."

ENGAGE IN SERVICES

Included in Gregory's plan is the creation of a community services coordinator position which would allow for the implementation of a Law Enforcement Mental Health Referral System, known as LEMHRS, and mental health first aid training for all local law enforcement agencies, including probation.

"Law enforcement may have several contacts with someone struggling with a behavioral health issue before there is any intervention," she told the Press-Republican.

"So, we're hoping (that at) that first interaction with law enforcement we can start putting support services in place immediately or at least engage the individuals immediately before law enforcement's interactions escalate or their behaviors escalate to the point of needing additional services or services that can be more traumatic."

The community services coordinator would receive LEMHRS referrals, identify whether the individual is getting services and, if not, work with community agencies to engage them in those services.

"There are always new law enforcement officers and the system can be difficult to navigate for everyone involved," Gregory said.

"If we had a single point person for law enforcement, then I believe it'll be easier and more helpful to them, especially in identifying needs and gaps."

OTHER DUTIES

The coordinator's duties would also include tracking data, mapping community needs and services' effectiveness, and securing additional grant funding.

Additionally, Gregory proposed a contract with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Champlain Valley for a peer to help those in mental health court engage in groups and hopefully reduce their recidivism in the criminal justice system.

Gregory told legislators that the Clinton County Sheriff's Office, Plattsburgh City Police, SUNY Plattsburgh University Police and State Police in addition to other behavioral health providers were willing to support the initiative.

She added that the application for this funding could marry well with crisis intervention team training and mapping City Police applied for.

"The collaboration of these partner agencies is a testament to our commitment to our community."

PREVIOUSLY PRESENTED

Gregory sat on the Clinton County Law Enforcement Review Committee, whose final report put forward multiple recommendations for the Clinton County Sheriff's Office, including strengthening officers' knowledge of and response to behavioral health, and exploring programs like LEMHRS.

Gregory told the Press-Republican her proposal is both a response to that process and a community need in general. She is not aware, up to this point, of any consistent training on mental health for law enforcement outside the police academy.

She initially presented the coordinator position to the legislature's Personnel Committee earlier this year after reviewing gaps and needs in the community as well as other counties' approaches. County Administrator Michael Zurlo said during the Health Committee meeting that it had been recommended the position be considered for the 2022 budget.

The county typically does not add new permanent staff until budget time, and each year's budget is usually passed in the preceding December and goes into effect Jan. 1.

But Gregory believes the law enforcement diversion funding, which is for one year, could roll out as soon as Oct. 1, so she decided to approach the legislators earlier this month about her concerns the creation of the position could be unnecessarily delayed.

She emphasized to legislators that the mental health crisis was "through the roof," pointing to how, just that day, she was monitoring three high-crisis individuals in life and death situations.

"My only fear is if we wait to put the position in my budget, we'll miss out on three months of funding for it," Gregory said.

According to Gregory, if the funding comes down and legislators do not approve the position, LEMHRS could not be deployed at that time. She said she would still plan to request the position in her 2022 budget.

'GOOD WORK'

Most members of the Health Committee seemed supportive of approving the coordinator position at the meeting.

Legislator Josh Kretser (D-Area 9) said it sounded like, even if funding and the coordinator went away, officers would still have had some really valuable training.

Legislator Wendell Hughes (D-Area 8), who chairs the Health Committee, said he would want to know whether the OMH funding was coming down before referring the matter to the Personnel Committee, but that he truly believes in the position and hopes it can get approved.

And Legislator Patty Waldron (D-Area 6), who also sits on the Personnel Committee, acknowledged Gregory's hard work on the proposal.

"It looks like this is actually going to come to fruition when, you know, probably a couple months ago we wouldn't have thought so," Waldron said. "Good work."

COMMUNITY POSITION

Legislature Chair Mark Henry (R-Area 3), who also chairs the Personnel Committee, said it was his position that that committee, and not others, be hiring people, and posed the question of whether the coordinator job was the best use of the OMH funding.

Since the funding would have to go to the local government unit, which is the county, Henry asked if the position could be contracted out with another agency. Gregory said she may be able to do contracts and called for proposals from others.

"But for this position I strongly feel it needs to be under the local government unit so no one owns it and it's a community position," she said.

Email Cara Chapman:

cchapman@pressrepublican.com

Twitter: @PPR_carachapman

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