Mental health, addiction treatment, officer training possible
Daily NewsJun 19, 2017
"The city and the county have been working on this for several months now," said Director of Public Safety
Officer training
A
The training would consist of teaching all personnel with the
"I think what it's going to do is complement what we're doing now," Yaniero said, which includes Crisis Intervention Training for his officers. "Part of this entire process is being able to identify those folks who need crisis intervention right away."
For those in need of help, the training will help officers recognize those who would benefit more from care and treatment than the criminal justice system, Yaniero said. Someone who's committed a crime but has been identified as needing addiction or mental health help would be given an option of treatment or jail.
Yaniero said he should find out within the next several months if the grant is approved and, if so, training would begin in October.
Getting a treatment center
One of the key parts in having a system that works is having a place to take someone in need of help, Yaniero said.
But there is nowhere within
The county and the
The senate bill has been approved, Knapp said, and all that's needed now is N.C. Governor
The bill divides
For
The funds could only be used for what Knapp called "brick and mortar" and which the bill lists as "any renovation or building costs associated with (i) the construction of new licensed inpatient behavioral health beds, (ii) the conversion of existing inpatient acute care beds into licensed inpatient behavioral health beds, or (iii) a combination of these options."
Yaniero said he hopes to have his officers trained before the facility opens.
"I think we're moving in the right direction and I'm very optimistic," Yaniero said. "We'll be able to do much more than we're doing right now."
Knapp said getting a facility up and running is one of the priorities for the board.
"It's something that's badly needed," he said. "These things take time, but we're moving rapidly in a direction of getting a detox (and) crisis center up and running."
Reporter
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