Oftentimes, people experiencing mental health and substance abuse-related problems end up incarcerated. How do we ensure that individuals in crisis are receiving the proper response, treatment, and services?   

Connections centers team up with local law enforcement branches to encourage them to utilize the drop-off service at the crisis response center (CRC) when they recognize mental illness. This allows the individual to get the proper care, and the officer can report back to their role in the community, all within about five or six minutes.   

"If you make it easy for law enforcement to do the right thing, use their training that they've received on how to recognize mental illness, the last piece of that is that you have to make it really easy for them to drop people off for care, " says Dr. Margie Balfour.   

“No Wrong Door” in a Crisis
The CRC’s “no wrong door” policy means that officers are never turned away, eliminating the need for them to navigate a complicated system of hospitals/emergency departments (EDs). The drop off process is considerably faster than what it would be at a jail or ED.  

 In 2023, Connections CRCs in Arizona served more than 30,000 individuals in crisis. Services include 24/7 walk-in urgent care and 23-hour observation. About half of our patients are brought directly from the field by law enforcement, with the remainder arriving via mobile crisis teams, walk-ins, or transfers from emergency rooms. Reasons an individual may be brought to the CRC include that they are potentially a danger to self/others, experiencing acute agitation, psychosis, or substance intoxication and withdrawal.  

Through rapid assessment, early intervention, proactive discharge planning, and close collaboration with community providers, the majority of patients are stabilized and connected to appropriate community-based care without the need for hospitalization. For those who need it, most Connections’ centers offer an extended stabilization unit that provides continuous care and treatment. Individuals in our extended stabilization units are typically discharged in three to five days.   

SOURCE: Crisis Response Center: An alternative to incarceration (kgun9.com)   
https://connectionshs.com/news/solving-the-mental-health-crisis-through-community-collaboration