Police Department
Reference: Agreement for Co-Responder Services Between the City of Brighton and Community Reach Center, Inc.
To: Mayor Gregory Mills and Members of City Council
Through: Michael P. Martinez, City Manager
Prepared By: Monce Portillo, Police Commander
Date Prepared: March 1, 2023
PURPOSE
Requesting City Council approval of an agreement for co-responder services between the City of Brighton and Community Reach Center, Inc. (CRC)
STRATEGIC FOCUS AREA
Safe, Active and Engaged Community
BACKGROUND
In the first quarter of 2022, the City Council made a request to learn more about implementing a mental health co-responder program at BPD. The Police Department and City Council identified the need to better serve vulnerable community members experiencing mental health crises and substance abuse disorders. Since that time, Staff at BPD researched, applied, and were awarded a grant from the Bureau of Justice to support the implementation of the Mental Health Co-Responder Program. The BPD intends to further our partnership with CRC to collaborate on the creation of a mental health clinician/police response- co-responder program. Grant and City funding will provide contract services for 1 FTE Clinician, plus appropriate expenses related to the supervision, insurance, and mileage.
Policy Implications
The Brighton Police Department Co-Responder Program
Typically, BPD police officers respond to mental health events and are equipped with minimal options to offer community members or the capacity to resolve the situation. Officers must decide if the matter is criminal and whether the person should go to jail. Or, they have to make a determination whether there is enough information to place the person on a mental health hold at a hospital instead of jail. Research has found that many of the people with mental illness who have contact with police end up being criminalized, which is not what they need to be successful. Typically, neither the jail nor community-based hospital is equipped to support the person in crisis, particularly in rural areas. BPD officers do their best to provide services to individuals in crisis but resources are limited.
Currently, the majority of BPD officers are trained in Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) and de-escalation techniques. In the 2000s, BPD began training its officers with CIT techniques. CIT is a 40-hour extensive training equipping officers with skills to identify individuals with mental health disorders and techniques to safely and respectfully interact with such individuals (Bailey et al., 2022, p. 376). Additionally, BPD also has several officers certified as CIT coaches. In 2021, Brighton police officers were also mandated to attend an eight-hour in-service training based on the Force Science Institutes' research on Realistic De-escalation. This training focuses on providing officers the skills necessary to identify persons in crisis and determine their threat level based on behavioral indicators. Based on the initial threat assessment, officers are provided suggestions, which include CIT techniques, to end the situation positively.
The BPD Co-Responder Program (CRP) is designed to address this growing concern and to do so in a multi-faceted way. The goal is to create a sustainable program to connect Brighton community members in need with the proper treatment and resources. In so doing, the CRP will work to enhance - a person’s overall quality of life and the community's public safety.
Project Design and Implementation
BPD aims to enhance a traditional co-responder program model to integrate a holistic approach to intervention and ongoing care. The BPD model will incorporate both a response clinician and a caseworker who will provide ongoing support to community members with whom the CRP has contact. The CRP will also host community partner stakeholder meetings, which the clinician, case manager, BPD officers, BPD Victim Services staff and hospital caseworkers will attend, to establish wrap-around services for community members. In addition, the BPD CRP will utilize a researcher to build a continuous improvement evaluation model into the program to ensure it is responsive to changing community needs and achieving its identified goals. Utilizing a researcher also allows the project to utilize real-time information to increase the efficacy of this project, building a sustainable program.
Fiscal Impacts:
The City of Brighton Police Department has been awarded a Bureau of Justice Grant Award, Justice Mental Health Co-Responder Program in the amount of $523,703.07. The grant is a step-down reimbursement grant over the course of three years. The grant funds a portion of the CRC contract services, a Researcher and a data system. As it relates to the CRC contract, the grant will fund $467,557.48 of the total $910,575.75 CRC Contract with a fiscal impact to the City of Brighton in the amount of $443,018.27
|
FY 1 |
Actual Cost |
Grant Funded |
COB Cost |
|
Clinician - supervision, mileage -subcontract |
$192,719.76 |
$192,719.76 |
$0.00 |
|
Case Worker |
$118,506.16 |
$0.00 |
$118,506.16 |
|
Total FY1 |
$311,225.92 |
$192,719.76 |
$118,506.16 |
|
FY 2 |
Actual Cost |
Grant Funded |
COB Cost |
|
Clinician - supervision, mileage -subcontract |
$198,202.12 |
$198202.12 |
$0.00 |
|
CRC Case Worker |
$122,246.17 |
$0.00 |
$122,246.17 |
|
Total Y2 |
$320,448.29 |
$198,202.12 |
$122,246.17 |
|
FY 3 |
Actual Cost |
Grant Funded |
COB Cost |
|
Clinician- supervision, mileage- subcontract |
$153,271.19 |
$76,635.60 |
$76,635.59 |
|
CRC Case Worker |
$125,630.35 |
$0.00 |
$125,630.35 |
|
Total Y3 |
$278,901.54 |
$76,635.60 |
$202,265.94 |
|
|
Actual Cost Total |
Grant Funded Total |
COB Cost |
|
Totals |
$910,575.75 |
$467,557.48 |
$443,018.27 |
Approximate Timeline
The project with grant funding will run a course of three years. Once the agreement between CRC and COB is executed, CRC will begin hiring the mental health clinician and case worker.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council approve the resolution allowing the city to enter the agreement with CRC.
OPTIONS FOR COUNCIL CONSIDERATION
Approve or disapprove the resolution concerning the agreement between both entities.
ATTACHMENTS
Resolution
Agreement between the City of Brighton and Community Reach Center, Inc.