Three full-time mental health crisis workers — Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office staffers who will be paired with deputies to respond to service calls involving mental illness, behavioral health crisis and emotionally charged situations — are now on the job.
The licensed clinicians were sworn in the by the sheriff on Thursday morning and their duties will include de-escalating situations and procuring additional help and support for people with mental health service needs, according to the sheriff’s office.
We just hired our first 3 mental health crisis workers/co-responders. These licensed clinicians were sworn in by the sheriff. They'll be paired w/deputies to respond to calls that involve mental illness, help de-escalate situations & get people the appropriate services they need.
— Arapahoe Sheriff (@ArapahoeSO)
The Behavioral Health Response Program combines the experience and expertise of deputies with behavioral health specialists to better service the public while broadening the sheriff’s office response. The co-responders will provide clinical assessments while “relieving deputies of providing behavioral health services that have generally been placed on them,” according to the sheriff’s office. The co-responder crisis staffers will assist with mandatory reporting to appropriate agencies, and connect people with services that provide behavioral health support.
