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Home My WebLink AboutORANGE, COUNTY OF (PERT) - 2016V 'ST 0 G 31" COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ORANGE COUNTY HEALTH CARE AGENCY AND CITY OF SANTA ANA POLICE DEPARTMENT N-2016-130 This document is intended to clarify the respective roles of the parties involved. It is not legally binding and does not create any contractual obligations, but is intended to reflect a shared understanding of the parties. byehiatric Emergency Response Team (P.E.R.T.)1 Law Enforcement Collaborative Partnership Descri tlr ion: The Orange County Health Care Agency (HCA) / Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD) Collaborative creates a combined mental health and law enforcement response team to assist mental health clients in accessing behavioral health services. The HCA provides a mental health clinician to partner with the SAPD in patrol field operations to facilitate a rapid response and provide thorough follow up. This collaborative serves as an endeavor to bring behavioral health services to the front- end of the law enforcement response. The Mental Health Team will intervene in a myriad of situations, some of which maynot involve the chronically mentally ill. The key element of the collaboration is to respond and effectively resolve those calls for service where law enforcement personnel interact with individuals, many of whom are homeless and/or suffering from chronic mental illness. P.E.R.T. Collaborative Mission: It is the mission of the collaborative to provide a time sensitive, comprehensive and cooperative response to assist clients in mental health crises and to provide follow-up to ensure access to behavioral health programs. P.E.R.T. Collaborative Activities: • HCA will assign a mental health professional to the SAPD on a part or full time basis. This will consist of pre -designated ride along days, while providing alternate days for follow-up on calls. • The SAPD will assign at least one officer to be the department's primary liaison to the collaborative. • HCA will assist SAPD to establish a standard reporting protocol for SAPD personnel when a mental health client is identified. + HCA will assist SAPD to efficiently identify individuals with a mental illness and/or substance abuse problems. • HCA and SAPD will provide rapid response to mental health clients. • IICA will assess the needs of afflicted individuals, protect life and property, and make community based resource referrals where appropriate and coordinate hospitalization when this level of care is needed. • HCA will document the contact and provide pertinent information for case follow-up. • HCA and SAPD conduct research and evaluation of the collaborative and the method of law enforcement response. • HCA will provide on-going behavioral health related training to SAPD personnel. P.E.R.T. Collaborative Goals: • Provide mental health clients with the appropriate care and linkage to other resources as needed in a dignified and respectful manner. • Prevent unnecessary incarceration or hospitalization of mental health clients. • Provide alternative care in a minimally restrictive environment. • Provide crisis intervention and evaluation with compassion and care. • Allow police officers to return to service sooner. • Reduce the amount of repeat calls for service. P.E.R.T. Collaborative Procedures: SAPD Officers who are aware of individuals who potentially require behavioral health intervention will notify the designated mental health personnel assigned to the department. When possible, the officer is to facilitate an in person contact between the individual and mental health counterpart in the following manner: • Contact the Mental Health Team clinician for response to the scene. • If PERT is not available for a response, the officer on scene may contact the Centralized Assessment Team at 1-866-830-6011 for an assessment. • When PERT is not available, SAPD may develop a system to get a referral to PERT for follow-up at a later time. Outreach & Engagement / Law Enforcement Collaborative Partnership Description: The Orange County Health Care Agency (HCA) and Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD), agree to work collaboratively to create a combined behavioral health and law enforcement response team. The HCA provides a behavioral health staff to partner with the Santa Ana Police Department. The primary purpose of the team is to assist behavioral health clients in accessing needed services. The HCA's Behavioral Health Services (BHS) Outreach and Engagement (O&E) Team will provide support and direct services in a myriad of situations, many of which may involve the chronically mentally ill, the homeless, and those with mild to moderate behavioral health issues. The key element of the collaboration is to effectively resolve those calls for service where law enforcement personnel interact with individuals, many of whom are homeless and/or suffering from chronic mental illness. 2 O&E Collaborative Mission: The mission of the collaborative is to provide prompt response to individuals experiencing a behavioral health issue, assess the needs of afflicted individuals, protect life and property, make community based resource referrals where appropriate, document the contact and provide pertinent information for case follow-up in order to reduce the frequency of calls for service for behavioral health related issues by facilitating treatment and housing for those in need. O&E Collaborative Activities: • HCA will assign a behavioral health professional to SAPD, for up to 40 hours per week (weekly schedule may vary). The behavioral health professional staff may ride -along with SAPD as needed. • SAPD intends to normally utilize the HCA personnel as a resource to patrol, but mayutilize the HCA personnel in other divisions or bureaus so long as that use is consistent with collaborative objectives. • HCA will assist officers in responding to events, reviewing event histories, and review of SAPD direct referrals to determine if enhanced services would be of benefit. • HCA will provide on-going behavioral health related training to Santa Ana Police Department personnel. • HCA will track the process and use data from this project to evaluate the collaborative and the effectiveness of a combined police/clinician response. • HCA will assist SAPD in identifying individuals with a behavioral health need. • HCA and SAPD will establish a protocol that guides appropriate use of HCA personnel. O&E Collaborative Goals: • Provide outreach and engagement and offer resources to help end homelessness. • Provide behavioral health clients with the appropriate care and linkage to other resources as needed in a dignified manner. • Prevent unnecessary incarceration or hospitalization of behavioral health clients. • Provide crisis intervention and evaluation with compassion and care. • Allow police officers to return to service sooner. • Reduce the amount of repeat calls for service. O&E Collaborative Procedures: The SAPD will assign at least one officer to be the department's primary liaison to the collaborative. The liaison officer will work collaboratively with HCA personnel in an effort to identify individuals who: Require assistance in behavioral health outreach, housing resources, alcohol and drug abuse recovery/detox, older adult services, and veteran services. The team will work together to match the homeless individual with to the appropriate resource worker. Require behavioral health information and/or enhanced HCA services. The officer will also facilitate other police services as necessary in order to assist HCA personnel in contacting and working with identified persons. General Provisions: N-2016-430 • HCA personnel will utilize best practices to assist individuals involved in these calls while also attempting to reduce the need for fixture police intervention. • HCA will complete a monthly report of referrals and forward the report to the Police Department. The referral report should include the date of the referral, referring officer, and disposition. • HCA and SAPD intend to maintain control and responsibility for their respective employees during the term of this collaborative partnership agreement. It is the intent of the participants that this collaborative partnership agreement can be terminated at any time for any reason by any of the participants. Signatures: Director Adult & Older Adult Behavioral Health HCA/Behavioral Health Services Brett O'Brien bate Director Children, Youth, and Prevention Services HCA/Behavioral Health Services APPROVED AS TO FORM Laura A. Rossini Senior Assistant City hrr; .- .„ IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Agreement the date and year first above written. ATTEST: MARIA D. HU'IZAR Cleric of the Council CITY OF SANTA ANA DAVID CAVAZOS City Manager