BOZEMAN, Mont. – Gallatin County is introducing a new Community Crisis Response program designed to care for people in a mental health emergency.
Partners in the program include Western Montana Mental Health Center, Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bozeman and Belgrade Police departments.
A community-based therapist will now be a first responder along with a law enforcement officer.
The therapist will be able to evaluate individuals on the scene to determine what someone may need for help.
“Officers, you know, when they’ve been on something or they’ve talked to somebody, and they don’t feel they did enough or had the assets to do enough, they got them help, kind of, they didn’t know. You also have the people that, they don’t give us enough that we can transport them to do something — well, now we have somebody who can come out and talk to them because the officer feels like, ‘I need to do more,'” Belgrade Police Chief EJ Clark, Jr. said.
The community crisis response team will also be following up and checking in on individuals after they have received help. The program hopes to provide better care for people with mental health emergencies.
