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Behavioral Health Intervention Team

Is this a new era of policing?

November 3, 2020 By Kevin Weiss

Law enforcement agencies nationwide have come under scrutiny, amid calls for reform to police practices, and redirecting funds toward mental health programming and support.

Some area agencies — such as the Pasco Sheriff’s Office and the St. Petersburg Police Department —already incorporate social workers and specialized mental health units, in responding to nonviolent calls for service.

Those two programs were outlined during an Oct. 12  webinar panel discussion called, “The Evolving Movement to Engage and Protect Our Community.”

The discussion was hosted by Saint Leo University and FIRST, which stands for Florida’s Forensics Institute for Research Security & Tactics.

A look at Pasco’s BHIT program
The Pasco Sheriff’s Office’s Behavioral Health Intervention Team (BHIT), which began operating last June, seeks to match people who need services, with the services they need.

Phil Kapusta is the future operations bureau chief with the Pasco Sheriff’s Office. (Courtesy of Saint Leo University)

The unit includes 12 detectives, two sergeants, a captain and a full-time civilian analyst (and two therapy dogs) working in partnership with local hospitals and mental health facilities, to conduct frequent visitations and welfare checks.

They help expedite referrals for behavioral health resources and criminal justice diversion programs for the county’s Baker Act repeats and other “high utilizers.”

Each BHIT detective has a caseload of 20 to 25 individuals they’re tasked to keep tabs on, and help with needed assistance and resources.

“We’ve literally given them the 250 most challenging people in Pasco County,” Pasco Sheriff’s Office Future Operations Bureau Chief Phil Kapusta said, referring to the program.

Before BHIT was implemented, one “high utilizer” had called the county’s 911 line 138 times in a single year.

The individual has since been assigned a BHIT detective, who is tasked with responding and speaking directly with that individual.

During the past year, that individual has made no calls to 911, Kapusta said. Instead, the person frequently calls the detective’s work number when he needs help.

“A lot of the times that were 911 calls, he just wanted somebody to talk to,” Kapusta said. Instead of responding to those 138 calls, the agency can respond to more urgent calls, he added.

Another BHIT responsibility is making contact with every nonfatal overdose victim within 24 hours of an incident.

Only about a third of those victims have expressed interest in rehabilitation services, Kapusta said, as most either refuse to speak to the unit or refuse to admit to having a drug problem.

But, 53 people, so far, have willingly gone into rehab as a result of BHIT’s intervention, Kapusta said.

“It’s a drop in the bucket to the overall drug epidemic,” he said, “but those are 53 people — it’s somebody’s mother, brother, sister, uncle— and when they come out of that and actually recovered, it’s like gaining that person back. Just that is worth the effort.”

That unit also works with the county’s homeless coalition and the St. Vincent De Paul Society to assist the homeless population. Often, besides lacking housing, they also have substance abuse or mental illness issues.

Anthony Holloway is the police chief in St. Petersburg.

The unit helps connect them with stable living environments and resources to work through other issues, with the goal of helping to “get them to where they’re contributing members of society,” said Kapusta.

Social workers respond to calls
In St. Petersburg, the St. Petersburg Police Department plans to integrate about 25 social workers into its agency by January, in an initiative it calls its Community Assistant Liaison (CAL) program.

St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway explained that social workers gradually will be phased into the department’s operations and 911 response.

The agency’s social workers initially will ride with a uniformed officer to nonviolent or non-criminal mental health calls, then eventually they will respond to those calls themselves, without police assistance.

Instances where social workers might be dispatched include drug overdoses, mental health crisis, unarmed suicide threats, disorderly or truant juveniles, panhandling, homeless complaints and so on. A police officer, however, always will be dispatched to a violent or life-threatening situation.

The CAL program also incorporates more law enforcement de-escalation police training organized by mental health professionals and regular follow-ups with those individuals facing a mental health or social crisis from the agency’s staffed social workers “to make sure that person is getting the care that they need,” Holloway said.

Holloway said the program has been long-needed, considering the agency isn’t really equipped to effectively handle every type of mental health crisis.

Underscoring the point: Of the agency’s 575 sworn officers, about 30% have fewer than five years’ experience on the force, he said.

“We feel like this will be very helpful for us and very beneficial to our officers,” Holloway said. “The law enforcement officers have been dealing with this for years and years, but it’s time for us to put professionals out there so we can deal with people that are going through a mental crisis, so we can be able to help them.”

Holloway said the agency received about 12,000 calls last year where it would’ve been deemed appropriate to send a social worker out to a scene, rather than a uniformed officer.

Jim Cowser is a licensed clinical social worker with the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, a national addiction treatment and advocacy organization headquartered in Minnesota.

“A lot of calls we saw were a lot of people going through those mental issues, where really they didn’t need a police officer, they needed someone to help them navigate through a system, and that’s what CAL is really about,” Holloway sad. “There is nothing criminal about it, it’s just someone that needs help.”

Working together for better outcomes
Such collaboration models between social workers and police has garnered support from clinicians and academia alike.

“It’s really reassuring to hear so many wonderful initiatives going on in the state, and the progress that’s being made,” said Jim Cowser, a licensed clinical social worker with the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, a national addiction treatment and advocacy organization headquartered in Minnesota.

Cowser reasoned, police ultimately see cost reductions via such initiatives, as they’re not forced to deploy expensive resources to a scene where it’s not warranted. Additionally, it also may reduce the need for arrests and reduce crime directly, by connecting a troubled individual with services, opposed to taking them into custody. He noted there’s “a significant relationship” between the motives or behaviors related to arrests and mental health and substance abuse issues.

By working together and cross-training with social workers, law enforcement agencies are “able to go out and more effectively handle a situation, and so all parties involved are better off,” he explained.

Dr. Lisa Rapp-McCall is a professor in Saint Leo’s Graduate Social Work Department and a research associate in the Maribeth Durst Applied Research Institute.

She likewise summarized the benefits on having police and social workers team under the same roof, in some form or fashion.

“We’re all on the same page with regards to wanting everyone to stay safe,” Rapp-McCall said. “We want to steer people with mental health problems into that system, as opposed to the criminal justice system, where it’s costly and not always as helpful to them.

Dr. Lisa Rapp-McCall is a professor in Saint Leo’s graduate social work department and a research associate in the Maribeth Durst Applied Research Institute.

“I think that social workers and police have already been working with the same individuals, just in different places, so why not harness our professional skillsets and work together to make this a little bit better system?”

Rapp-McCall detailed how law enforcement can use methods to involve social workers, in addition to co-responding and de-escalation training models.

Some agencies nationwide have called on social workers to accompany officers when they deliver death notifications. Others have leveraged them to attend court services with victims to provide comfort and support. Another opportunity is utilizing social workers for community outreach, whether it’s hosting public seminars on opioid use, human trafficking, parenting skills and so on.

Rapp-McCall’s shared findings from research and interviews on police departments incorporating social workers, too.

Results showed a decrease in injuries, involuntary hospitalization, detentions, arrests, and time on calls, which she said “all helped reduce costs of the entire criminal justice system, as well as the agency.”

Additionally, implemented police-social worker models led to an increased engagement in services for citizens involved, and an improved view of law enforcement by citizens. Also, Rapp-McCall noted law enforcement “overwhelmingly” found social workers to be helpful in agency operations.

Police consolidation on the way?
The United States has roughly 18,000 law enforcement agencies. About three quarters of those have less than 25 sworn officers.

The possible paradigm shift — with more social workers partnering law enforcements agencies — combined with more national standards and requirements, could result in smaller police departments consolidating with others, across the country.

And, that may not necessarily be a bad thing, said Phil Kapusta, future operations bureau chief with the Pasco Sheriff’s Office. He explained that “smaller departments don’t necessarily have the same resources and can’t dedicate a certain percentage to behavioral health.”

“The U.S. has a long tradition against centralized police,” Kapusta added, “but going forward, we definitely think there’ll be a consolidation of those (smaller agencies).”

However it shakes out, he said he’s willing to see more law enforcement agencies utilize social workers, among other ways to tackle mental health issues in respective communities.

“Law enforcement, for better or worse, kind of in this country has become one of the mental health providers of last resort,” he said, “and we will be happy to pass a lot of those responsibilities on, but you need the system architecture, so that there are mental health professionals who will show up at 2 o’ clock on a Sunday morning and work with us, as long as it’s safe.”

Published November 04, 2020

Filed Under: Health, Local News Tagged With: Anthony Holloway, Behavioral Health Intervention Team, FIRST, Forensics Institute for Research Security & Tactics, Future Operations Bureau, Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, Jim Cowser, Lisa Rapp-McCall, Maribeth Durst Applied Research Institute, Pasco Sheriff's Office, Phil Kapusta, police consolidation, Saint Leo University, St. Petersburg Police Department, St. Vincent De Paul Society

Pasco experiencing recent spike of overdoses

October 6, 2020 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) has reported a record-setting spike in drug overdoses.

A lethal dose of the painkilling opioid Fentanyl is 2 milligrams, almost imperceptible, but the PCSO Narcotics Unit removed 435,000 lethal doses of the drug from the county’s streets during a six-week period.

The story doesn’t stop there.

Even a 2-milligram dose of the painkilling opioid Fentanyl, although almost imperceptible, can be fatal. After a recent uptick in overdoses, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office has emphasized rehabilitation solutions. (Courtesy of Pasco County Sheriff’s Office)

Aided by a federal grant, the PCSO has established a Behavioral Health Intervention Team, which helps citizens with mental-health issues or substance-abuse problems. Members of the 16-person team contact overdose survivors within 48 hours of the incident, then connect them with community rehabilitation partners such as BayCare.

According to Sheriff’s Office records, Pasco County overdoses reached an all-time monthly high of 167 (37 fatal) in May, then maintained a steady pace in June (146, 18 fatal); July (140, nine fatal); and August (147, 24 fatal).

From 2017-2019, the largest overdose total in any month was 89.

In 2020, there were startling overdose upticks in May (297% increase), June (239% increase), July (204% increase) and August (234% increase), compared to the average of those month’s totals in the previous three years.

But, to Pasco County Sheriff’s Capt. Toni Roach, the key number is 49. Those are the people who have been placed under the care of a substance-abuse program because of the intervention team’s work.

“I know that doesn’t seem like a large number, but we’re running at about a 25% commitment into a program (after intervention),’’ Roach said. “That’s (49) people I know who aren’t going to potentially overdose and die in our community. That’s because the detective has been able to engage them and help them get appointments with behavioral health providers.

“We’ve created a path, giving these overdose subjects a golden ticket, getting them to the head of the line for services. These overdose subjects, they overdose, they almost die and they want help. “The overall effects of withdrawal and addiction manifest themselves within the first 24 hours. That’s why it’s crucial to get to them before they use again. If we get them into services quickly and reduce the withdrawal effects, they’re going to be more successful in staying,” she said.

Sometimes, it’s difficult to follow through, though.

Roach said the intervention team has worked with approximately 1,000 overdose follow-up assignments in the last year. About one-third of the subjects couldn’t be located, potentially because they were homeless, transient or intentionally avoiding authorities.

For subjects who are located, about half of them are interested in services. Most of the time, Roach said, they don’t know where to start.

“We have that hard conversation and tell them, ‘This is your rock bottom, and we’re here to help you,’” Roach said. “We help take away all the excuses. We do all the legwork and take people to their first appointment. If the process is intimidating or they don’t have transportation, we get them that help.’’

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, that help has been needed more than ever.

“We definitely saw an increase in the overdose numbers and there were multiple potential reasons,’’ Roach said. “Some of it was stimulus related. When the stimulus checks came out, some people partied like it was 1999. The substance abuse community relies heavily on peer support and interaction. So when we stopped meeting in person, churches closed and things went online, it wasn’t the same as having that human interaction.

“The whole aspect of social isolation has been a huge part of the pandemic and overall mental health. No doubt, isolation has played into it in a very big way,” she said.

Fentanyl also plays into it in a very big way. It’s the drug of concern for local officials.

“It’s extremely cheap and it’s extremely addictive because of its potency level,’’ Roach said. “It creates a bigger problem for us. The things that seemed more benign by comparison, such as marijuana, can now overdose and kill you because it’s now laced with something that is very fatal and highly toxic. It throws our entire community into a new playing field.’’

But, the intervention team continues to make headway.

“We’ve had a lot of great wins during this process,’’ Roach said. “As time goes on and we learn more and more, I think it will be even more effective.’’

By Joey Johnston

Published October 07, 2020

Filed Under: Health, Local News Tagged With: BayCare, Behavioral Health Intervention Team, COVID-19, overdoses, Pasco County Sheriff's Office, PCSO Narcotics Unit, Toni Roach

Pasco Sheriff’s Office appreciates community’s support

September 1, 2020 By Kevin Weiss

Amid nationwide protests and movements for widespread police reform, Pasco County is fortunate to receive considerable community support, said Pasco Sheriff District 2 Cpt. Joseph Irizarry during a breakfast meeting with the East Pasco Networking Group.

Protesters have been persistent, and sometimes violent, in calls for reform in the wake of multiple officer-involved shootings across U.S. cities, but Pasco deputies have felt appreciated by the “support that’s been pouring out of the community,” said Irizarry said, whose patrol division runs east of U. S. Highway 41 north to the Hernando County line, south to the Hillsborough County line, and east to Polk and Sumter counties.

Pasco Sheriff’s Office District 2 Cpt. Joseph Irizarry, right, pictured with East Pasco Networking Group chairman Nils Lenz. Irizarry was the featured guest speaker at the group’s Aug. 25 breakfast meeting at IHOP in Dade City. (Kevin Weiss)

“You know, you can’t go anywhere in Pasco County pretty much without getting ‘thank yous’ and someone offering to pay for my meal or to buy me a cup of coffee — so it’s greatly appreciated,” he told the group, gathered for the Aug. 25 breakfast meeting at the IHOP in Dade City. “Unfortunately, many other law enforcement agencies aren’t experiencing the same support that we experience here in Pasco County.”

The district 2 captain said the reelection of Sheriff Chris Nocco has helped the department stay focused on county issues. No one stepped forward to challenge the sheriff, in his bid for reelection.

Touching on the county’s more pressing issues, Irizarry said the agency has placed a significant emphasis on the issues of homelessness and mental health.

He applauded Nocco’s progressive approach in addressing community issues. For instance, the sheriff used grant money to form the Behavioral Health Intervention Team (BHIT) last year.

The unit, made up of 12 detectives, partners with local hospitals and mental health facilities to conduct frequent visitations and welfare checks. It also helps expedite referrals for behavioral health resources and criminal justice diversion programs for the county’s Baker Act repeats.

For example, an individual struggling with addiction may be referred to outpatient substance abuse treatment. Or, someone struggling financially might be referred to Pasco County’s Human Services department and the county’s homeless coalition.

Before the proactive program began, Irizarry said, the sheriff’s office would be called to a scene and make initial contact with someone who was in the midst of a mental health crisis — and that individual might be arrested or submitted for an involuntary mental health evaluation (Baker Act).

From there, it was left to others to address the problems.

But, the law enforcement agency discovered that many struggling people end up going back to square one — spiraling into their various issues, without knowing how or where to turn for help, he said.

“The sheriff kind of took the reins, ‘Hey, we’re going to create a unit, we’re going to be that ‘somebody else,’ and we’re going to follow up,” said Irizarry, who’s held various roles in his 20 years with the law enforcement agency, including patrol deputy, K-9 deputy, and vice and narcotics detective.

Meanwhile, the high-level officer noted that less than 20% of service calls are related to criminal complaints, so the majority of calls are related to non-criminal matters such as mental health and substance abuse problems, among others.

“A lot of our time is spent doing things other than arresting people and taking people to jail,” Irizarry said. “It’s trying to get people help, and use resources in the community or in the area.”

That seems more important than ever, as many individuals and families have been struggling through layoffs and furloughs due to COVID-19.

Recently, the sheriff’s office has been partnering with Feeding Tampa Bay to deliver hundreds of meals to families at the Pasco County Fairgrounds.

It’s about making the county “a better place for everybody to live,” the captain said.

“In this day and age with the pandemic, a lot of people are laid off, so they don’t have the money to pay the bills or pay the rent or pay for food…so there’s a lot of things that the sheriff’s office does to help the community.”

Published September 02, 2020

Filed Under: Local News Tagged With: Baker Act, Behavioral Health Intervention Team, Chris Nocco, East Pasco Networking Group, Feeding Tampa Bay, IHOP, Joseph Irizarry, Pasco County Fairgrounds, Pasco County Sheriff, U.S. 41

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