Teams may be formed to aid mentally ill

When a person with mental illness reaches a crisis point, family members often have no choice but to call police at 911.

Advocates for the mentally ill say a better solution would be to form teams of professionals who can visit people in their homes and connect them with mental health services before the police become involved.

Lawmakers this month approved legislation that allows cities and counties to form “community engagement teams” that include a psychiatrist or psychologist, a social worker and others, to work with mentally ill people as part of a pilot project.

“We’re trying to engage people who are reluctant to seek treatment,” said Nils Rosenbaum, a psychiatrist with the Albuquerque Police Department, and an advocate for the pilot program.

Successful treatment often begins with meeting people face-to-face at an early stage in their illnesses, Rosenbaum said.

Too often, he said, people with a serious mental illness “have their first contact with mental health in the jail.”

The teams would initiate contact at the request of family members and participation would be voluntary, according to the law. The intent is to give families an alternative to contacting law enforcement to get help.

Rep. Rick Miera, D-Albuquerque, who co-sponsored the legislation, said the team approach has the potential to reduce jail populations by getting people services before they are arrested.

“People say, ‘I don’t want to get arrested to get help,’ ” Miera said.

The legislation calls for a yearlong planning process followed by a five-year pilot project. Local governments would organize the teams based on regulations that will be written by the state Department of Health.

The legislation appropriates no funding for the project, which on Tuesday had not been signed by Gov. Susana Martinez.

Advocates say they will use the planning period to seek funding and support from local government agencies and nonprofits. They offered no estimate of the project’s cost.

Barri Roberts, director of the Bernalillo County Forensic Intervention Consortium, predicted many counties will find the team model attractive because jails and local law officials are not equipped to help people with mental illness.

Roberts said she has had early conversations with Albuquerque and Bernalillo County officials about the program.
— This article appeared on page C01 of the Albuquerque Journal