by Jo Valenti, BSN, RN, Cumberland County Mental Health Advocate
Questionable use of force by law enforcement has grabbed the attention of everyone. This issue has been very much the focus of Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McCrae and her dedicated team of professionals, aptly called the Community Justice Unit. They considered what strategies might offer success in reducing negative interactions between first responders and individuals with mental illness. They asked the question: What would happen if a professional skilled in mental health arrived with the first responder? To implement such a strategy money was needed. EMBHED, which stands for Effective Mental & Behavioral Health Emergency Diversion, was awarded a Federal Bureau of Justice grant in the amount of $543,046.
EMBHED consists of three main components:
1) Embedding a Resource Coach (the mental health professional) in the Millville Police Department.
2) Delivering countywide training for law enforcement on crisis intervention, mental health first aid, and de-escalation so that police can better handle individuals in need.
3) Providing 24/7, countywide on-call crisis response to assist at police incident scenes.
In this column, we will focus on the first component of EMBHED.
Inspira Health recognized an opportunity to contribute to the effort by creating a Resource Coach position, interviewing candidates, and hiring the mental health professional.
“The crisis in mental health has touched every family, our community, and our nation,” notes Amy B. Mansue, president and CEO, Inspira Health. “Police are often faced with trying to intervene when a person is in a mental health crisis and in need of the support of behavioral health professionals to make sure they receive timely access to the appropriate level of care. Having social work services that link community members in crisis to behavioral health and substance use expertise in real time helps our local law enforcement partners and steers members of our community into more effective methods of treatment. This is an important partnership, and we look forward to continuing to proactively identify individuals in need of services and or treatment.”
Great success has been achieved since the January 2024 inauguration of this particular component of EMBHED. Statistics provided for this article through the month of September include that there have been 113 referrals of individuals in need who experience chronic mental health issues and nearly 50 percent of referred individuals have actively engaged with the Resource Coach to receive services.
What does this translate to in practical terms? The Resource Coach connects individuals to the services that will improve their mental health, and the criminal justice system is avoided altogether. In fact, 24 of these individuals have been connected to mental health and substance abuse treatment—25 for housing (majority of referrals are homeless) and 11 for public benefits.
Lauren Nash Mitchell, Inspira’s manager of the embedded Resource Coach, says, “The success of the EMBHED program in Millville has been transformative, providing vital support to individuals facing homelessness, substance abuse, and mental health challenges. This achievement is a testament to the dedication of our team, particularly Dwight [Inspira’s Resource Coach], whose compassion and tireless efforts in connecting residents to critical resources have made a meaningful impact. Through compassionate, community-based interventions, we’ve seen significant improvements in well-being and stability, making a lasting positive impact on our community.”
What is essential for such a model to be successful? It requires collaboration from all partners. The three partners working on this effort are the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s team, the Inspira Health team, and the Millville Police Department.
Tracy Swan, Public Safety Reform Strategist, Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office, stresses that this component would not be possible without collaboration between these three key players: “Without community partners willing to come together to work on shared goals, and in this case, connecting individuals in need with the right resources to help them achieve stable emotional well-being and long-term success, our community suffers.”
“There has always been a good working relationship between the Cumberland County Prosecutors Office and the Millville Police Department,” states Chief Ross Hoffman, Millville Police Department, “and I was happy to collaborate with them to be able to bring new resources to those in need within the community. By offering these resources, we hope to have a significant impact on those in need of mental health and social service assistance in the future,”
“The partnership between Inspira, the Prosecutor’s Office’s EMBHED program, and the Millville Police Department exemplifies the importance of collaborative efforts in supporting community well-being,” says Dwight Lee, Resource Coach, Inspira Health. “Millville PD’s strong relationship with the community has become a central point for delivering services, and by working closely with Inspira, we can streamline access to help. It’s a win for the Millville Police Department, the participants, and the community at large. I take immense pride in joining forces with Millville PD, knowing that together, we can improve the quality of life for the participants.”
Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae adds, “Embedding these services in the police department allows for mental health professionals and police officers to build relationships outside of the specific day-to-day duties, resulting in better understanding of one another, which ultimately results in the building of trusting relationships.”
Far too often a broken way of dealing with problems is never acknowledged, let alone fixed. In this case, the problem of police use of force combined with interjecting mentally ill people into the criminal justice system was analyzed and strategies to correct the system were developed. The success so far has been phenomenal. Our communities here in Cumberland County are very fortunate to have collaborators with energy and insight, dedicated to the sort of problem-solving that will benefit all of us in the long run.
December’s Minding Your Mind article will update on the other two components of EMBHED with information on the number trained and findings of police officers and mental health providers in CIT (Crisis Intervention Team), as well as ARRIVE Together co-responder police and mental health screener effort. n
The Cumberland County Mental Health and Addictions Board actively promotes awareness of stigma and the need for public education regarding mental health and addiction. The Board meets monthly, and the public is invited to attend. Refer to the meeting schedule on the Cumberland County website for meeting dates.
