The Jefferson County Center for Mental Health has a new presence within the Jeffco Sheriff’s Office thanks to a pilot project launched by the county and funded by a justice assistance grant.
The grant — for just over $125,000 — supports the county’s Crisis Intervention Team and pays salaries for two full-time mental health specialist case managers who will be stationed at the south precinct of the sheriff’s office and assist deputies with cases that involve a suspect who could be dealing with mental health issues or someone who is constantly on a watch list at the sheriff’s office.
The case managers were recently hired and started work at the beginning of the month.
“We’re hoping to see increased access to mental health services and to decrease the time sheriff’s deputies have to spend on mental health calls,” said Lori Swanson-Lamm, director of adult intensive services at Jefferson County Center for Mental Health.
The sheriff’s office has seen an increasing number of cases that deal with mental health issues. In 2013, deputies received almost 600 calls related to mental issues, up from 200 in 2003, according to Swanson-Lamm, who said the office is on pace to surpass the 2013 number this year.
In the past few years, sheriff’s deputies who are part of the Crisis Intervention Team have been taking an increased role in responsibility regarding mental health cases, even including taking a person they had contact with to Jefferson County Mental Health for an appointment with a therapist. That was done on a volunteer basis with the intent of getting people better access to services.
“It’s always been my opinion that we focus on getting mentally ill people to facilities,” Capt. Al Simmons said.
The sheriff’s office had been looking for better ways to connect with people who may be suffering from a mental health issue and sat down with the county attorney’s office and Mental Health Services to come up with the proposal for the two case managers.
“There are lots of people who are frequently on the radar for the sheriff’s office,” assistant county attorney Joan Heller said. “It’s a benefit to the community.”
The case managers have spent the past month getting acclimated and going on ride-alongs with Crisis Intervention Team members.
The Jefferson County Center for Mental Health and the Jeffco Sheriff’s Office have been collaborating since 2000, and Swanson-Lamm said she’s happy to see this next step in the process.
“It’s incredible to see the buy-in from Sheriff (Ted) Mink all the way down,” she said.
Joe Vaccarelli: 303-954-2396, jvaccarelli@denverpost.com or twitter.com/joe_vacc
