12 January 11 - 17, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents ▼ PUBLIC SAFETY A ‘FORCE MULTIPLIER’ DALLAS’ RIGHT CARE UNIT RESPONDS TO MENTAL HEALTH CRISES ACROSS THE CITY. BY JACOB VAUGHN F or nearly six years, Dallas has been see- ing success with its RIGHT Care Unit, a team of professionals who respond to 911 calls involving residents experiencing be- havioral health crises. The goal is to divert these individuals from jail or hospitalization. RIGHT, which stands for “rapid inte- grated group healthcare team,” has sev- eral objectives, a spokesperson for the group told the Observer by email. Created in partnership with the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, the unit hopes to provide on-site services to people under- going a mental health crisis. The unit can also offer prevention and intervention ser- vices for people who chronically use emergency systems for their behavioral health needs, and can respond to these calls so other Dallas Police Department officers don’t have to. At last month’s Public Safety Committee meeting, Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia called the RIGHT Care Unit a “force multi- plier” for the department. He said the unit is able to respond to calls that may otherwise require the assistance of several patrol offi- cers. “It assists patrol in actually taking that burden away from them whenever we can,” he said. The RIGHT Care Unit was created in 2018 for several reasons including an in- creased need for behavioral health re- sources, the spokesperson said. The city also wanted to improve community safety and well-being while reducing the criminaliza- tion of mental illness and improving com- munity engagement. Around the time of the unit’s creation, the Meadows Mental Health Policy Insti- tute conducted a study that found an 18% in- crease in mental health calls to DPD’s call center from 2012 to 2015. Some divisions saw increases of as much as 85%. The study also showed that about 17,000 people with mental illness are booked into the Dallas County jail annually, and 40% return within a year of their release. The unit is a multidis- ciplinary team made up of one DPD officer, a Dallas Fire-Rescue paramedic, a Parkland health clinician, a licensed master social worker or licensed clinical social worker, and a call center behavioral health clinician staffed by the North Texas Behavioral Health Authority. The interaction with the unit usually starts when a behavioral health crisis is identified from the call center. When the call taker determines there is a behavioral health component to the call, the North Texas Behavioral Health Authority clinician joins in to establish the needs of the caller and relays this information to the rest of the RIGHT Care team. The team is then sent to the caller for evaluation and will follow up with the caller later if needed. RIGHT Care teams are dispatched to a variety of different behavioral health calls on a tiered basis. There are low-risk calls where an individual just needs to be con- nected to mental health services. There’s also the moderate or standard behavioral health call, which may involve a disoriented person or someone who’s aggressive and ex- hibiting escalated behavior. High-risk calls may involve someone going through sub- stance abuse or who’s a threat to themselves or others. From there, each member of the team has their own responsibilities. For exam- ple, the RIGHT Care police officer directs the team on the scene for security decisions and emergency detention. The paramedic is responsible for medical evaluations and physical care of the patient. The behavioral clinician conducts a psychosocial assess- ment of behavioral health and social ser- vice needs. Emergency detention is determined by the officer on the scene based on the information from the rest of the team. The RIGHT Care Unit has been involved in many success stories, the spokesperson said. For example, the unit helped a veteran connect to behavioral health care and Vet- eran Affairs services. It provided an evalua- tion to someone experiencing their first psychotic break and connected them to mental health services. The unit also as- sisted a frequent 911 caller experiencing illu- sions of an intruder in their home. It provided an assessment and re-connected them to health care for medication. There have been some challenges ex- panding the RIGHT Care Unit, mostly when it comes to staffing. To address this, the city incrementally phased in more teams. Today, there are 18 RIGHT Care teams across the city. The spokesperson said the unit has helped build trust between the community and police and has given people a better un- derstanding of mental health. As they see it, the RIGHT Care Unit has played a signifi- cant role in educating communities about mental health and helped address the stigma of mental health being a criminal matter versus a health matter. There have been some concrete numbers indicating progress. The unit’s work is cred- ited for the decrease in the number of what’s called “apprehension by peace officer with- out warrant” arrests. In 2021, there were 6,377 of these arrests, but in 2023, there were only 4,100, marking a 35.7% drop. From Jan. 1 to Nov. 30, the team took some 12,216 calls, served 6,873 people, and di- verted 142 people from jail. City Council member Cara Men- delsohn, chair of Dallas’ Public Safety Committee, said RIGHT Care has been very successful in responding to complex 911 calls that involve an urgent mental health need that intersects with public safety. Mendelsohn pointed out the unit’s ben- efits, saying, “Allowing specially-trained police officers, paramedics, along with crisis intervention social workers, to take the time and use their skills to address complex situations has diffused many dif- ficult situations, helped residents access the appropriate level of services, and cre- ated a higher level of trust with first re- sponders, especially in dealing with mental health issues.” Unfair Park from p10 Hand built not bougHt. Franklins TaTToo and supply TWo loCaTions: 469-904-2665 • 4910 Columbia ave, dallas, TX 75214 open now • 903-710-2028 • 17581 old Jacksonville hwy, flint tx 75762 proFessional TaTToo supply For pros only Call for your appointment or design commissions today!
