The concept arose in January 2022<\/a>, when then-Undersheriff Doug Scherar, who is now the sheriff, directed staff to explore various models for mental health crisis response. Over the next 18 months, Smith engaged with agencies state to identify a model that would best serve Routt County.\u00a0<\/p>\nIn February 2023, Scherar and Smith presented their findings to the county commissioners. Following the commissioners\u2019 recommendation to secure funding, the Routt County Sheriff\u2019s Office pursued funding and was awarded a Colorado Behavioral Health Administration grant in June 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Smith was appointed as the full-time mental health response deputy by September 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The following month, the county hired a consultant for the initiative and the subsequent year was spent gathering data, meeting with local resource providers and developing policies and procedures, which ultimately culminated in a request for proposals for a clinical partner. That partner is now UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center.<\/p>\n
The team\u2019s initial schedule when it launched last fall was 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays and 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, said Bricker. That schedule has now been adjusted \u2014 based on both call volumes and types of calls \u2014 to 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday.<\/p>\n
Calls for service can originate through dispatch, self-referrals, community partners, responding officer referrals, providers and members of the public, with the goal being for the team to arrive on scene, de-escalate the situation, evaluate and connect the individual to services.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the individual does need a higher level of care, or is at an imminent risk of harm to themselves or to someone else, then \u2026 either the officer or the clinician can help with initiating a temporary hold,\u201d said Bricker, who added that such individuals are usually taken to Grand Junction.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a temporary hold, they go to the emergency room for a full bio-psychosocial, and then from there \u2014 if it is determined that they do need inpatient care \u2014 that discharge planning can sometimes include the co-response team being willing to transport them as well,\u201d she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The program is meant to reduce the time law enforcement officers spend on behavioral health calls, improve community relationships, minimize unnecessary hospitalizations or arrests and create a continuity of care across local jurisdictions, funding streams and resources.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As of August, the team had received 128 calls for service, with 88 of those calls being unique.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, you\u2019ll have some people that have chronic stuff going on, so that\u2019s going to be a touch point throughout the year,\u201d explained Bricker.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just over half of all calls, or 60% of the unique calls, originated from Steamboat Springs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Service calls included over 50 documented follow-up contacts, either in person, over the phone or via text; seven voluntary transports for mental health evaluation, also known as a \u201ctemporary hold\u201d; and four involuntary transports for individuals at risk of imminent harm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The most common service needs involved wellness checks, emotional disturbances, behavioral health crises and suicidal ideation or threats.<\/p>\n
In addition to collaborating with the RCSO, Smith and Dierksen partner with the Steamboat Springs Police Department, UCHealth, the Hayden Police Department, the Mental Health Response Team Steering Committee and local school districts, all of whom can make referrals for calls for service.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The county issued a survey to law enforcement officers from the sheriff\u2019s office, the Steamboat Springs Police Department and the Hayden Police Department to provide feedback on the program. With only 11 officers responding \u2014 out of what County Manager Jay Harrington said was roughly 100 officers in the field across the three jurisdictions \u2014 Bricker acknowledged that the survey data was more useful for qualitative purposes than quantitative.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sixty-five percent of the 11 respondents said they utilize the co-response team at least weekly or monthly and had overwhelmingly positive remarks on the program\u2019s efficacy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of that 65%, the respondents stated that the team is consistent and reliable, helped them manage situations where mental health is a concern, helped them understand and manage potential crises and had a positive influence on policing and community safety.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Eighty-two percent of the respondents who frequently use the co-response team said Smith and Dierksen helped them return to other duties by taking over behavioral health situations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn some of the long-form responses, something that came up was how positive it was to know that they\u2019re able to understand what happened with an individual after they had that interaction with them, which from the officer\u2019s perspective, benefited their own mental health,\u201d Bricker said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Multiple respondents encouraged expanding the program, with one suggesting 24-hour coverage. While Bricker said that kind of coverage would be ideal, the current call volumes and types do not yet necessitate it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She noted that from the funding perspective, the Mental Health Response Team is one area where finances are stable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bricker went on to discuss areas of growth looking toward the team\u2019s second year, including \u201cfine-tuning\u201d data tracking and reporting, improving community education efforts and enhancing partnerships with the local school districts such that school resource officers and the team can more effectively collaborate.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a lot less undignified to have people show up that are not in uniform, so it\u2019s better for the student population as well,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The county is also looking into potentially implementing a fill-in deputy at the RCSO for when Smith is out, as that means Dierksen can\u2019t feasibly respond to calls in person. With Smith out, Dierksen also isn\u2019t aware of the context of the call.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bricker aims to push the survey more aggressively in the upcoming year to get a larger pool of responses and to revise the questions to get more comprehensive feedback.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you\u2019re collecting the data, do you start to see patterns, like Thursday or Friday nights, full moons?\u201d asked Commissioner Tim Redmond. \u201cI\u2019m just throwing things out there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bricker said they do see trends, sometimes related to events happening locally, and often related to the \u201cparty culture that comes with a resort town.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the difficulties with programs that have a heavy prevention element is that prevention is a bit immeasurable,\u201d she explained. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to tell what you have avoided.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s part of the revised officers\u2019 survey, too, is asking things like, \u2018In your opinion, would this have resulted in arrest if the co-responder team was not there?’\u201d she continued. \u201cThen we can understand a little bit more about avoiding unnecessary arrest.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bricker\u2019s presentation comes on the heels of results from a Yampa Valley behavioral health survey presented to the Steamboat Springs City Council in early September<\/a>, which found that local residents struggle with loneliness and substance use disorders, with one of three residents identifying as lonely.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Routt County Mental Health Response Team, now just over a year old, is continuing to make a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632206,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[134,554,555,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-632205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}