KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – A $550,000 federal grant will allow mental health staff to work with Kalamazoo area law enforcement agencies to improve crisis response involving people with mental illness and substance abuse issues.
The U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded the grant to the community mental health service provider Integrated Services of Kalamazoo.
The grant will fund the creation of a police-mental health collaboration, with the goal to improve public safety responses and outcomes for people with mental illness and substance abuse disorders whenever they interact with law enforcement.
The Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office, as well as police and public safety departments in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Township, Portage, Vicksburg, Richland, Augusta and Schoolcraft will receive the training, as well as officials at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo Valley Community College, and Kalamazoo County Consolidated Dispatch.
The grant will also help develop a 24/7 crisis-response drop-off center for people with mental illness and/or substance abuse struggles. The center will be staffed by Integrated Services of Kalamazoo emergency mental health clinicians, and will be an alternative to a hospital emergency room or jail.
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