I have watched too many young people struggle with behavioral difficulties, substance abuse or mental health issues and enter different service systems but never truly benefit from their time in these systems. It created the desire to help improve how children and adolescents who have mental health problems or who have engaged in delinquent behavior are treated.

Police officers have very little preparation in terms of understanding whether behavioral or mental health issues are present. Symptoms of depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation may present additional challenges for police officers when determining the best course of action for each youth. My research focuses on preparing officers to properly identify mental health needs and crises and ensuring that the right resources are available to them.

When an officer or deputy determines that a youth might be experiencing a mental health crisis, they can request that an on-call therapist also responds. Once the therapist arrives on scene, they are debriefed and spend some time with the youth in crisis. The therapist provides their assessment to the officer to help determine whether involuntary commitment is needed or if the youth can be de-escalated with a safety plan. A care coordinator will follow up within 48 hours to continue helping the family access and coordinate community-based interventions. Our findings have shown that when the mobile crisis unit is involved, the odds of an involuntary commitment are reduced by over 90%.

Regarding the justice system, resilience involves ensuring that decision makers have the requisite skills to make decisions that are fair, just and improve the well-being of the individuals involved. By providing mental health training and offering resources like the mobile crisis unit, we’re providing resources to law enforcement officers to help them make informed decisions about how to properly respond to youth with mental health needs — all of which contributes to building community resilience.