Barriers and facilitators to implementing an urban co-responding police-mental health team

dc.contributor.authorBailey, Katie
dc.contributor.authorPaquet, Staci Rising
dc.contributor.authorRay, Bradley R.
dc.contributor.authorGrommon, Eric
dc.contributor.authorLowder, Evan M.
dc.contributor.authorSightes, Emily
dc.contributor.departmentSchool of Public and Environmental Affairsen_US
dc.date.accessioned2019-08-23T15:27:19Z
dc.date.available2019-08-23T15:27:19Z
dc.date.issued2018-11-22
dc.description.abstractBackgroundIn an effort to reduce the increasing number of persons with mental illness (PMI) experiencing incarceration, co-responding police-mental health teams are being utilized as a way to divert PMI from the criminal justice system. Co-response teams are typically an inter-agency collaboration between police and mental health professionals, and in some cases include emergency medical personnel. These teams are intended to facilitate emergency response by linking patients to mental health resources rather than the criminal justice system, thus reducing burdens on both the criminal justice systems as well as local healthcare systems. The current study examines the barriers and facilitators of successfully implementing the Mobile Crisis Assistance Team model, a first-responder co-response team consisting of police officers, mental health professionals, and paramedics. Through content analysis of qualitative focus groups with team members and interviews with program stakeholders, this study expands previous findings by identifying additional professional cultural barriers and facilitators to program implementation while also exploring the role of clear, systematic policies and guidelines in program success.ResultsFindings demonstrate the value of having both flexible and formal policies and procedures to help guide program implementation; ample community resources and treatment services in order to successfully refer clients to needed services; and streamlined communication among participating agencies and the local healthcare community. A significant barrier to successful program implementation is that of role conflict and stigma. Indeed, members of the co-response teams experienced difficulty transitioning into their new roles and reported negative feedback from other first responders as well as from within their own agency. Initial agency collaboration, information sharing between agencies, and team building were also identified as facilitators to program implementation.ConclusionThe current study provides a critical foundation for the implementation of first-responder police-mental health co-response teams. Cultural and systematic barriers to co-response team success should be understood prior to program creation and used to guide implementation. Furthermore, attention must be directed to cultivating community and professional support for co-response teams. Findings from this study can be used to guide future efforts to implement first-response co-response teams in order to positively engage PMI and divert PMI from the criminal justice system.en_US
dc.eprint.versionFinal published versionen_US
dc.identifier.citationBailey, K., Paquet, S. R., Ray, B. R., Grommon, E., Lowder, E. M., & Sightes, E. (2018). Barriers and facilitators to implementing an urban co-responding police-mental health team. Health & Justice, 6(1), 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40352-018-0079-0en_US
dc.identifier.issn2194-7899en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1805/20527
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherSpringeren_US
dc.relation.isversionof10.1186/s40352-018-0079-0en_US
dc.relation.journalHealth & Justiceen_US
dc.rightsAttribution 3.0 United States*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/*
dc.sourcePublisheren_US
dc.subjectCo-response teamsen_US
dc.subjectImplementationen_US
dc.subjectMobile crisis teamsen_US
dc.subjectPersons with mental illnessen_US
dc.subjectPoliceen_US
dc.subjectmental health emergency responseen_US
dc.subjectPre-arrest diversionen_US
dc.subjectUrbanen_US
dc.titleBarriers and facilitators to implementing an urban co-responding police-mental health teamen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
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