The New Orleans Health Department (NOHD), in the committed interest to create and preserve healthy and vibrant communities, has partnered with Resources for Human Development (RHD) Inc., a non-profit organization, to develop and launch a Community Crisis Diversion (CCD) program integrated within the City of New Orleans’ local 9-1-1 emergency response dispatch system. This CCD program, duly named the New Orleans Mobile Crisis Intervention Unit (MCIU) is tasked to divert 9-1-1 non-violent mental health crisis calls away from police and other first responders to professionals trained in community behavioral crisis care response: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. The MCIU will exclusively serve Orleans Parish which is contiguous with the City of New Orleans. The population of focus for this intervention is any person, regardless of age, who has notified the 9-1-1 system that they, or someone they are witnessing, is experiencing a mental health crisis and is not exhibiting violent behavior, does not indicate to have any weapons present, and is not in the act of severely harming themselves. Data from April of 2018 through June of 2021 provided by the Orleans Parish Communication Department (OPCD / “9-1-1 call center”) indicated that about 2920 calls per year or about 8 calls per day could have been diverted to the New Orleans MCIU teams. Further, New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) - behavioral Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) 2022 data shows, NOPD responded to a population that was 72% Black, 23% White, 2% Hispanic, and 1% Asian. This population was 61% male, 37% female, and 2% were categorized as other. Additionally, 28% were between the ages of 30-39; 20% were between the ages 20-29; 16% were between the ages of 40-49; 13% were between the ages of 10-19; 12% were between the ages of 50-59; and about 12% were 60 or older. According to US Census 2020 data, the City of New Orleans has an estimated population of 383,997. Further 2020 Census demographics indicated that the City of New Orleans is about 58% Black, 33% White, and 9% other with 24.8% living below the poverty line. MCIU teams will be referred and dispatched by OPCD 9-1-1 call takers, to respond, stabilize, and resolve immediate behavioral crises either by phone and/or face-to-face by identifiable, wheelchair accessible vans available for consumer transport to an appropriate care-level location if needed. Responding units are made up of at least 1 mental healthcare licensed professional and 1 certified crisis intervention team member. MCIU will run 2 units for day and evening shift work and 1 unit responding overnight. The goals and measurable objectives of the MCIU is two-fold; 1) MCIU will improve the immediate mental wellbeing of community members who call 9-1-1 for mental health crises by receiving and diverting 2900 to 3000 9-1-1 non-violent and non-hazardous mental health calls away from law enforcement and to trained mental health professionals through the MCUI initiative within its first year of operations; 2) The MCIU initiative aims to decrease the overuse of hospital emergency departments by at least 20% in resolving mental health crises by utilizing other community-based supports when clinically appropriate. Should NOHD receive this grant opportunity, funding will be used to support 5 MCIU crisis workers, purchase supplies, and support staff training. Funding this program will greatly increase the capacity and enhance capabilities of this project to effectively change and improve the quality of care in mental health treatment. Subsequently, This CCD project will further help to relieve the burden on police by dealing with poorly understood mental behaviors and underlining causal factors that police expertise is not designed to optimize and treat in practice.
