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HomenewsSome Cities in the Us Have Started a Pilot Programme That Sends...

Some Cities in the Us Have Started a Pilot Programme That Sends Emts and Social Workers to 911 Calls About Mental Health

Some cities, like New York, are trying out a pilot program that sends teams of EMTs and social workers instead of police officers to mental health emergencies.

The program is called B-Heard, and it started in New York City in 2021. It is part of a division called the Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division.

“This is a check on your health,” said FDNY EMT Isha Middleton. “We don’t want to take you away. People have an idea of the police when they see them.

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When we get there and they see EMTs and the fire department, they say, “Huh.” We have a chance to go through that window now that it is open.”

In nonviolent mental health emergencies, 911 dispatchers send EMTs and social workers instead of police officers in the hopes that the situation will end peacefully.

Social worker Salley May said, “This is a way to bring care into the crisis.” “You see it when it happens. Wow, you think, this is different, and you know it.”

This is not like any other crisis response team in the city. They are getting ready to go out on the streets of New York.

FDNY Deputy Chief Cheryl Middleton said, “It’s something the city really needed and has never been done before.” “There were not many choices. You know, the NYPD would show up, and most of the time, the person would end up in the emergency room.”

People like these are sometimes put in handcuffs, shot, or killed before they get to the hospital.

A report from the Treatment Advocacy Center says that people with untreated mental illness are 16 times more likely to be killed by police.

In Texas, Patrick Warren Junior says he called 911 and asked for his father to get a mental health checkup. Right in front of him, the police shot and killed his father.

And in California, Angelo Quinto’s family says he was depressed and having a mental health episode when he died a few days after an officer put his knee on his neck, which police deny.

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Deaths like these involving police have led people all over the country to call for change.
De-escalation programs are now in place in many cities, including Portland, Oregon, and Denver, Colorado.

Even though a lot of people think this is a step in the right direction, others want to see more progress.

Jordyn Rosenthal is an advocate for mental health, and she wants to see “peers” on B-Heard teams. Peers are people who have their own mental health diagnosis or have been through a mental health crisis.

Rosenthal said, “They need to be there because they know what it’s like to be the person in trouble.”

Right now, only about 22% of 911 calls about mental health are being sent to B-Heard.

Rosenthal thinks that isn’t enough.

Rosenthal said, “There are too many calls to the police.”

But New York City’s Deputy Director of Mental Health Initiatives, Jason Hansman, says that change doesn’t happen overnight.

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Hansman said, “About a year and a half ago, we were still sending police officers and EMTs to every mental health call in the city.” “We have changed it so that we now answer about a quarter of the calls. And this will take time.”

Sapna Pal
Sapna Palhttp://newjerseylocalnews.com
Hello viewers, my self sapna. I am working as a content writer from last 5 years. In https://newjerseylocalnews.com/ where i uptated fresh news of new jersey and some other area and provience of united state of america. For daily news of newjersey just visit my website https://newjerseylocalnews.com/
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