The Sequential Intercept Model mapping (1 day) and SIM strategic planning sessions (1/2 day) are requested to address the growing need for an evidence-based community response to mental health crisis. BJA NTTAC referred this request to the CIT Training Program.
Serious mental illness is a growing problem in Northwest Louisiana. With a prevalence that was already population-disproportionate prior to COVID19, the global adversity of 2020 has only served to further expand and escalate the level of emotional distress for countless individuals in this community. From 2019 to 2021, the Part 1 violent crimes of homicide, aggravated battery, and aggravated assault increased each year for the period January to May within the City of Shreveport1, 2. These outcomes are indicators of increased distress and deteriorating wellbeing in our city.
Many calls for emergency assistance in Shreveport, Louisiana involve mentally ill persons in the community. Conservative estimates are that more than 50 percent of all 911 calls received by law enforcement include symptomatic displays of mental illness or mental health disorders. With an average of 900 calls monthly, it is possible that more than 5,000 calls for law enforcement service annually are triggered in response to a mental health crisis. This growing demand is occurring during a time when the Shreveport Police Department has more than 100 officer openings, resulting in a 20-25% workforce shortage. Additionally, a plague of recent officer indictments for overuse of force indicates a need for system change.
The skills and responses of a law enforcement officer are designed to ensure public safety and do not include mental health treatment. The officer’s limited and costly options of arrest and incarceration may inadvertently result in further harm to the mentally ill individual, large cost to society, and without other options, may escalate the risk of harm to themselves and others at the scene. A safe alternative is desperately needed.
1 2019 Annual Crime Report. Shreveport (LA): Shreveport Police Department. [cited 2021, Aug 8]. Available from: https://www.shreveportla.gov/DocumentCenter/View/17902/2019
2 Monthly Crime Comparison. Shreveport (LA): Shreveport Police Department. 2021, May. Available from: https://www.shreveportla.gov/DocumentCenter/View/19172/May-2021
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Beginning in 2020, the Shreveport Police Department began the process of receiving Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training toward the goal of improving the response to emergency mental health calls for service and creating a system for diverting appropriate calls to community services. However, the capacity for community crisis mental health professionals is limited and quality is inconsistent. Consequently, there is currently an urgent need to increase capacity and implement best practices for community mental health providers to assist in providing the least restrictive and most appropriate response to mental health emergencies.
We currently know that CITs can make a meaningful difference in patient lives and social costs. A 2017 study found that 48% of all Iowa prison populations had a diagnosable mental health disorder3. Similarly, a report of Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections found that 50% of women at Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women had a prescription for a mental health condition, and that the proportion of people with a substance use disorder ranged from 56% to 98% across all DPSC prisons4. Given this prevalence, the funding required to develop CITs is returned through dramatically reduced health care and criminal justice costs.
3 Al-Rousan T, Rubenstein L, Sieleni B, et al. Inside the nation’s largest mental health institution: a prevalence study in a state prison system. BMC Public Health 17, 342 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4257-0
4 Armstrong A, Reilly B, Wennerstrom A. Adequacy of Healthcare Provided in Louisiana State Prisons. New Orleans (LA): Loyola University College of Law. 2021 May. Available from: https://www.loyno.edu/sites/default/files/2021-05/DPSC_Healthcare_Brief.pdf
Please submit a signed letter of support from your agency’s executive or other senior staff member. The letter can be emailed to or uploaded with this request. The letter should be submitted on official letterhead and include the following information:
- General information regarding the request for TTA services, i.e., the who, what, where, when, and why.
- The organizational and/or community needs specific to the request for TTA services.
- The benefits or anticipated outcomes from the receipt of TTA services.
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The City of Shreveport is located in Caddo Parish, in the northwest corner of Louisiana. In recent years, the rate of incarceration for Caddo Parish has been the highest in the state of Louisiana, which historically leads the nation in incarceration rates. There are currently multiple indictments pending from officer use of force, and officers are leaving the department in large numbers. Shreveport is a community in desperate need of bold law enforcement and mental health system reform, and community leaders are united in their desire for a strategic plan for change.