Last time, in the October 30 issue, we discussed the first component of EMBHED, which stands for Effective Mental & Behavioral Health Emergency Diversion, launched by the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Community Justice Unit in 2022.
EMBHED consists of three main components:
1) Embedding a Resource Coach (the mental health professional) in the Millville Police Department
2) 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 (ARRIVE Together)
Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Training is for first responders and mental health professionals to learn de-escalation and active listening skills while building understanding and empathy about the experiences of those who live with mental illness and/or substance use disorders. The 40-hour class includes lectures, hands-on activities, breakout groups, scenarios, panel discussions, and local service provider site visits.
Since February 2022, there have been five 40-hour classes, graduating 168 CIT-trained professionals, which is 24 percent of active-duty officers trained countywide. Since dispatchers taking the 911 or 988 calls initially interact with the public, the Office has also held three eight-hour classes which trained 58 Dispatchers across the county.
Class evaluations consistently reflect those officers significantly increased their knowledge about, and confidence in, referring someone in need to local mental health partners, while the mental health participants significantly improved their positive perceptions of law enforcement whose work is difficult, raising the awareness that first responders care very much about the communities they serve. The people calling for help have noticed that responding officers are more aware of the nuances presented by a person experiencing a mental health emergency. This change means that the interactions are non-confrontational. In fact, the outcome often leads to connecting the family to resources that they desperately need.
The Cumberland County CIT Training Program has been awarded the 2023 Program of the Year by CIT-NJ. The Office’s CIT Coordinator Amy Holmes exclaims, “The success of Cumberland County’s CIT Training program is attributed to the immense support from leadership in both law enforcement and mental health sectors. The lasting partnership of these leaders has created a robust and sustainable program that supports the success of CIT and ARRIVE Together.”
There are plans to include EMTs and school security staff in the CIT training in the future.
ARRIVE Together
Some background statistics for perspective: Individuals with mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and substance use issues are: 16 times more likely to die in a law enforcement encounter; more likely to end up in jails/prisons than in state psychiatric hospitals with 10 times more individuals with severe mental illness incarcerated than not; and take up 20 percent of law enforcement staff time. ARRIVE Together aims to prevent all these outcomes from happening.
ARRIVE Together is a co-responder model which pairs a crisis intervention trained (CIT) officer with a crisis screener to provide on-scene assistance to those experiencing a mental health or behavioral health emergency. The objectives of ARRIVE are two-fold:
1) To successfully de-escalate, provide on-scene mental health screening and access to services, while avoiding use of force and arrest; and
2) To conduct informal follow-up visits with individuals served to support their continuum of mental health care.
ARRIVE Together was successfully piloted in Cumberland County in 2021. In December 2022, ARRIVE Together expanded into Bridgeton Police Department, and further expanded in May 2023 to be available across Cumberland County. Cumberland is the first county in the state to do so, successfully expanded from a pilot (outlying townships with NJ State Police) to a countywide initiative (across all six law enforcement agencies) within just two years.
Since its beginning, ARRIVE Together has shown itself to be highly effective at reducing arrests and use of force, as well as having the potential of improving police-community relationships and restore community trust in law enforcement.
“CIT and ARRIVE Together have been invaluable in bridging the gap between mental health services and law enforcement,” said Tara Nardi, ARRIVE Screener, Cumberland County Guidance Center. “Working side by side with officers has not only illuminated the complexities of our roles, but the collaboration fosters trust and understanding strengthening relationships with those we serve and enhances community safety.”
ARRIVE Together is coordinated by the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Community Justice Unit. The Cumberland County Guidance Center is the county’s crisis screener and provides the screeners for this strategy.
“We are proud to remain a steadfast partner in Cumberland County’s ARRIVE Together initiative, from inception to expansion,” said Elizabeth Meenan, executive director of Cumberland County Guidance Center. “County residents who struggle with their mental health deserve the right care needed when a crisis event occurs.”
“While working as an ARRIVE Together Officer, I’ve seen the positive impacts on those being served by this type of alternate response. I’m proud to be part of it,” said Ofc. Matthew Garvey, Vineland Police Department.
In addition to the federal BJA EMBHED grant, which was written about in last month’s column, the Prosecutor’s Office recently secured a $150,000 grant from the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office to cover the coordination and some operating expenses of the Program.
“Successful expansion of new initiatives takes manpower to coordinate,” said Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae. “Grant funds allow my office to dedicate one of our grant-funded staff members to coordinate the countywide program, as well as similarly aligned strategies like our intensive 40-hour Crisis Intervention Team training for first responders and mental health professionals.”
Since December 2021, ARRIVE has helped over 600 individuals in the county. That’s over 600 individuals that may have been arrested in the past, housed in the county jail, suffered injuries on scene, or caused injuries on scene, that were instead safely connected to appropriate services, while staying in the community, and far less utilizing law enforcement resources.
On average, of those served by ARRIVE, 30 percent engage in mental health services and 40 percent remain in the community, which is a best practice. Cumberland County can also boast zero arrests and zero uses of force in the first 2.5 years of ARRIVE’s operation.
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.
