The city of Clive is bringing its crisis intervention team in-house, turning the mental health responder role into a city employee position. Police Chief Mark Rehberg said the change will give the department more control over the program and make the service more available to people in need.
Program Details
The team works with people facing mental health crises, substance use issues, homelessness, and other problems. The program responded to about 600 calls last year, officials said. They said the goal is to help people get connected to services instead of sending them to jail when a criminal charge is not the best answer.
Funding for the program is also changing. Officials said a contract amendment with Iowa Primary Care restores support to $120,000, up from a planned drop to $90,000. Combined with savings from a restructuring of administrative staff, the city will cover about $11,000 in additional costs this year.
The city council recently approved the job description needed to create the position. Officials hope to have someone hired by the end of July.
Original reporting: KCCI Des Moines — read the source article.
