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Home My WebLink About2001-11-27 Correspondence 11-27,01 3 f( 1 ) 29 October 2001 City Council City Hall Coralville, IA 52241 Dear Council members; I came across the attached article in one of my professional journals. As my sister is mentally and resides in Iowa City, I would like to be reassured that if she does come into contact with the county's various Law Enforcement agencies, she would be treated appropriated. Further, I hope these various County Law Enforcement agencies have a similar program in-place to handle those persons who reside in this county and are mentally ill. As budgets and programs for Social Services and services for the mentally ill are being reduced, the courts and the prisons administer the "services" which the mentally ill might receive. These "service providers" have been shown to be ineffective and inefficient. The attached article is a proactive response for our mentally ill population who do not receive the appropriate or adequate care they need. Mark Hollingsworth ~/ 736 14th Ave. Coralville, IA 52241 cc: Coralville City Administrator Coralville Police Chief Iowa City, City council Iowa City, City Manager Iowa City, Police Chief Long Beach Police, Mental :g Health Professionals To Assist Mentally Ill j~!ntal illness is a social problem that too often falls upon law enforcement officers to resolve. ociety's failure to meet the needs of the mentally ill population has forced the police to be the initial point of contact for many of these individuals. Although today's patrol officer is better able to rec- ognize mental iiines~ i~an in the past, mental health-related calls are still ciifficuit ana time consuming. Police are trained primarily to investigate crime, not diagnose mental disorders. The inevitable result is that some people with mental disorders become unneces- ~ ~' 'k '~ ............ . sarily hospitalized or incarcerated. In an ~ . ' ~ ~ , attempt to handle an escalating situation quickly, police officers may resort to booking an individual who actually needs treatment for a mental illness. / ~: ~' ~ ' '~ This is not became officers lack good- will, but because they don't receive train- \__ . .~., . ins in mental health issues and referral options. Such an outcome crowds overburdens courts, incurs significant costs for the city, creates l!ability issues for the department and denies the dient's need for treatment. In November 1996, the Long Beach Police Department implemented a The Mental Evaluation ~}am is called in ~o ~a!uate a ,.-hentally iLt subje~ dressed as a Mental Evaluation Team (MET) m provide better resolution in incidents comic book hero and behaving un~tall~ involving the mentally ill. MET com- bines the skills and resources of a Long police capability to run clients for war- health services. MET's goals are two- Beach police officer and a Los Angeles rants, the dinidan has access to the fold -- to better serve those who have County Department of Mental Health Medical Information System database a mental illness and to better serve the ' clinician, thus creating a new, more and the automated eligibility verification community as a whole, by: effective way of handling mental health system to confirm Medi-Cal eligibility. · Preventing unnecessary incarceration incidents. In addition to the traditional and jot hospitalization of mentally The Mental Evaluation Teem ill persons; MET was designed to provide a cooper- · Preventing duplication of mental The City of Long Beach won an Award for ative, compassionate mental health- Excellence in the Public Safely category health services; Of the 2001 Calif0rnia CRies Helen law enforcement response team to help Putnam Award for Excellence. persons in need access available mental ° Protecting those who are, as a result League of California Cities www. cacltles.org of a mental disorder, a danger to "' 7~-~7~-- ",_~.'-- ' ' *~ The vast majority of calls that MET themselves; _ ' ~ .~ responds to involve an outcome ' ' '~. · *-'~ other than incarceration. The jail · Protecting the community from ~ * ~ " i : · ~] and court systems bentfit by not those who are, as a result of a mental '] being burdened with unnecessarily disorder, a danger to others; · · providing expert intervention in ~lk .~ { incarcerated individuals; critical situations; and _.~ . · Enabling police patrol units to return . ~ MET's presence saved to service quickly. F: ~.:, ?~'~ patrol officers approxi- MET memben share their expenise and mately 40 hours The jail and court ,~.~o,k ~,i,h ,ozuag.~,.o,v'.,.,.,. per month, totaling systems benefit by not approximately $2,200 to evaluate the $12,700 annually. being burdened with ~Uenr. routing h~rofthe tions away from county fadlities saved unnecessarily incarcer- fiecounty hospital system $272,800 * The county hospital systemTbenefits ated individuals. that y~. aom the t~Et ~uit; ,ucces, ar divert- After expanding the program to two ing insured subjects to private facili- MET units, the costs savings wese ties. The MET unit, with the ability A MET unit is dispatched to calls even' higher. Ftotu November 1998 to verify Medi-Cal and other insurance involving mental health issues and to October 1999, 826 calls for sen, ice eligibility, would prefer to take the responds to requests for assistance by resulted in a $23 000 savings in patrol mentally ill subject to a private hospi- patrol units. The MET unit takes over man-hours.' Of these calls, 401 tesnlted tal for three teasore: to lighten the the call, freeing the patrol unit to in hosplrnfi-=,ions, and 145 of the burden on county fadlities, to save respond to other calls for service. The mentally ill (36 percent) were taken taxpayer money, and to increase the MET members can joinfly ar, sess an to private facilities, saving the county possibility of long-term treatment; individual and desermine what priority $319,000 in evaluation fees done. This · The taxpayer benefits by savings real- to give to law enforcement and mental figure does not include the cost of the ized through the diversion of subjects health issues. The mentally ill are han- hospital stay itself, which averaged 14 away from jail and county hospitals. died in a calm, supportive and respectful days at $500 tu $1,500 per day. Tax dollars axe saved, too, whenthe manner. Force is used only as a last mentally ill persons needs are properly resort, and incarceration occurs only met initially, thereby decreasing inap- proptiate placements and duplication in the =~e nf a f~on~, The mentally ill are han- of se~ces; t~3' Saws nrn. ana taon.~ dled in a calm, supportive · The community benefits from the The costs involved in the development andrespectfulmanner. quicker re'urn to service on the part and deployment of the MET units of the patrol officer who is able to are easily justified in terms of savings pass a call on to the MET unit. The to the taxpayer. In MET's first year community also benefits from an (Nov. I, 1996 to Oct. 31, 1997), the I~lt:T I-I~l~: 111~ I~l~ntalllt Ill improved quality of life due to better unit responded to 580 calls for service. care of its mentally ill; an~,.~ MET's presence saved patrol officers The MET teams create a win-win situa- 'approximately 40 hours per month, tion for evesyone involved, and the posi- · Perhaps most i ortantl~E?nentally ill totaling $12,700 annually. tive resttits of the program ate numerous: individuals be m I~g treated g!a compassionate~anncsFand hospitalization, half of which were at a specialized unit to take over inci- tact. Z' G~.~2lic~..7~Zl private <as opposed to countyl facilities.dents invnlvinga susp ted men, RI individual, freeing up the officer toLongph Each time an officer takes a subject to a county psychiatric facility, it costs thereturn to the primary duty of answer- ing ~alls for service; --~ county, and ultimately the taxpayer, w~w.w~tt~rnelty. eom ,, ,L 't'~ i~ mt~v1 r,4~c(, Also 4o his Marian Karr From: JoePeter@aol.com Sent: Monday, November 26, 2001 10:10 PM To: council@iowa-city.org Subject: First Avenue Dear Honorable Council Members: I am writing to ask you to reconsider the decision to close 1st Avenue until the completion of Scott Boulevard. Since 1st Avenue is already built, why deny Iowa Citians the opportunity for more efficiency and convenience for another year or more? The opponents of the construction of 1st Avenue will never be happy with the fact that the road was built, so why try and appease them by delaying the opening? The city has taken the proper step of building the road, now please take the next step by opening it as soon as possible. Thank you. Sincerely, Joe Peterson 1532 Rochester Ave Iowa City, IA 52245-3136 PH 319-351-2297 (days) or 319-338-3363 (evenings) FAX 319-358-5810