Posted Oct 11, 2012, 11:41 am
It is less likely now that someone like the mentally ill Vickie Logan will be arrested by a sheriff's deputy in a minor nuisance case, taken to the county jail and die a suicide now that the Crisis Response Center has opened on Tucson's South Side.
Logan, 42, hanged herself in her jail cell after a nurse ordered her out of a common area after she was observed talking to people who weren't there, the jail's supervisor said afterward.
The nurse who evaluated her on admission didn't think she needed to see a psychiatrist right away or have access to prescription medications that controlled her symptoms.
That was in April 2005.
Today people who need mental health help in a crisis are more likely to get it because a law enforcement officer can take a criminal suspect to the Crisis Response Center, the county's one-year-old facility just south of Ajo Way at South Country Club Road, near University of Arizona Medical Center South.
The CRC, built with county bond funds, is operated under the supervision of the state-designated regional behavioral health agency, the Community Partnership of Southern Arizona.
The CRC works cooperatively with UAMC's psychiatrists, who provide psychiatric evaluation, medication and related services for people in a mental health crisis.
Neal Cash, CEO of CPSA, said that in the first year of operation, from Sept. 1, 2011 through Aug. 30, 2012, an average of more than 900 adults a month were seen at the CRC.
Like what you're reading? Support high-quality local journalism and help underwrite independent news without the spin.
A danger to themselves
As the months pass, Cash said, "People are presenting at the CRC mostly for concern that they're a danger to themselves. We've seen an exponential increase in the use of crisis services: about 11,000 crisis calls a month, and an average of 970 people (seen) each month at the CRC in its first full year.
In the first year, the CRC saw 10,013 adults.
During that same period, an average of about 136 youth (17 and under) were seen each month at the CRC, a total of 1,626 young people.
Cash said that of them, about 14 percent underwent emergency psychiatric inpatient evaluation under the state's Title 36 law, which allows a judge to hold an individual for evaluation if he is a danger to himself or others.
In the first year, 1,700 applications for emergency admission were handled by the CRC, operated under contract by Crisis Response Network of Southern Arizona.
Neal said the CRC is fulfilling its promised function of diverting some of the mentally ill from jail and local hospital emergency rooms.
"We promised our community three things when we asked them for funds to build the Crisis Response Center: That we'd no longer use hospital Emergency Departments and jail as our mental health system; that we would make it easier and faster for law enforcement to transfer people to care; and that we would take some of the pressure off EDs," Cash said in email.
"We have a full range of crisis services at the CRC – assessment, observation, 24-hour triage and sub-acute beds for short-term crisis stabilization, all in one place," he said.
"That, plus the new Desert Hope detox center that's nearby, has taken a load off EDs and the jail, which often was where these individuals ended up. We had 2,183 transfers to the CRC from EDs alone in its first year," Cash said.
"Law enforcement now can safely and securely transfer someone to the CRC or Desert Hope and be back on the street within 15 minutes. It used to take at least 2 hours for an officer to transfer someone into care. The shorter transfer time is like adding five full-time officers to the force," Cash said.
Thanks to our donors and sponsors for their support of local independent reporting. Join Richard Webster , William Schmidt, and Alan Fischer and contribute today!
"Law enforcement has been our biggest champion. There's no better compliment than having law enforcement and first responders acknowledge that you're helping the community better serve the folks who live there."
Comments
There are no comments on this report. Sorry, comments are closed.