Title
Report to approve, by motion, an extension of the Community Wellness Crisis Response Team Mental Health Clinician co-response model beyond the two-year pilot program. (Perla Lopez-Madrid, Police Chief)
label
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council continue the existing partnerships with Star Vista and the County of San Mateo to maintain a dedicated Mental Health Clinician within the South San Francisco Police Department.
Body
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
South San Francisco is one of four police departments in San Mateo County who helped create and implement the Community Wellness Crisis Response Team (CWCRT). The CWCRT program embedded a mental health clinician within the police department who was responsible for handling calls for service where mental health was a contributing factor. It is a co-response model where the clinician is dispatched to the same calls that police officers are sent. The program benefits include faster access to mental health resources, alternative de-escalation options, and crucial follow-up visits with clients. The two-year pilot program started in December of 2021 and will conclude on June 30, 2024, unless individual cities develop their own program. Due to the program's initial success, San Mateo County and Star Vista plans to expand the pilot program opportunity to other cities within the county.
The police department maintains a public facing dashboard that illustrates the program's data related to the call types, most frequent clinician actions, sources of the call, day/time reported, and involved individual characteristics. The dashboard promotes community trust via transparency and full access to the program's data. Preliminary analysis comparing 2022 to 2023 calendar years indicates the police department experienced a 23.4% reduction in mental health incidents that resulted in the individual requiring hospitalization for additional treatment. Since the program's inception, the police de...
Click here for full text