Nashville awarded federal technical assistance to develop city's non-law enforcement model of response - WSMV 4

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Metro Nashville has been awarded federal technical assistance to support the development of the city’s non-law enforcement model of response, Mayor John Cooper announced Wednesday.

The new service will complement the Partners in Care pilot program.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) GAINS Center selected Nashville as one of five sites to participate in the Learning Collaborative on Response Models.

“This gives Nashville the necessary third-party support from the national leaders on the topic of response. We can now go from plan to implementation,” Cooper said in a news release. “I am committed to funding this new service in the upcoming fiscal year, FY23.”

The GAINS Center will conduct a county-wide strategic plan to develop the service in time for deployment likely in the latter half of FY23. The Mayor’s Office is convening a planning committee to guide the process. Members of the committee will include key department and stakeholders, who have been involved in Partners in Care, the police co-response model.

“The Mayor’s Office has been successful in rolling out Partners in Care,” Council Member Burkley Allen, chair of the Council Budget and Finance Committee, said in a news release.

Allen went on to stipulate the need for a response model that does not rely on the Metro Nashville Police Department.

“Receiving this specialized support will give us the best opportunity to define this new service,” Allen said.

In June 2021, Metro Nashville launched Partners in Care to place mental health clinicians in police cars with Metro Police officers in two precincts – North and Hermitage. This pilot connects individuals in mental health crisis to care and services while ensuring the safety and wellbeing of community members, police officers, emergency medical responders and clinicians. By all measures the pilot is delivering on its charge: 41% of participants are experiencing active mental health crisis at the time of service; 96% are connected to care; less than 4% are arrested.

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source: https://www.wsmv.com/2022/03/09/nashville-awarded-federal-technical-assistance-develop-citys-non-law-enforcement-model-response/

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