By Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P] / Bay City News
Behavioral health physicians will accompany law enforcement in certain emergency responses in San Mateo County's four largest cities
Starting next week, a pilot program will be launched that seeks to prevent people experiencing a mental health crisis from ending up in jail or emergency rooms.
The two-year program launches Monday in Daly City, Redwood City, San Mateo and South San Francisco after the county Board of Supervisors and city councils in all four cities approved it earlier this year with the goal of ensuring that unsafe situations can be resolved and that people in crisis, as well as first responders, can remain safe.
StarVista, a nonprofit based in San Carlos, has contracted with the county to train and supervise the medics who will work with the police departments in the four cities.
Physicians will be deployed in the offices alongside police officers in cases of mental or behavioral health crises.
The San Mateo County program is one of many being developed in the Bay Area and across the nation as jurisdictions try to prevent violent interactions between law enforcement and people in crisis.
“The County is proud to support such an important and necessary intervention that supports the safety of people in crisis and those around them,” said County Administrator Mike Callagy. “This provides another option for those who need mental health care instead of incarceration or hospitalization.”
The two-year program is expected to cost about $1.5 million, with the four cities and the county contributing funding.
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