Nearly six years ago, Western Montana Mental Health Center, the Kalispell Police Department and Flathead County formed a partnership to establish the region’s first crisis co-responder program, which brought in a therapist to help law enforcement respond to mental health-related calls. It began in 2020 with one licensed clinical social worker who was dispatched to calls with a law enforcement officer who was there to ensure the scene is safe. The program was designed to prevent unnecessary interactions with law enforcement while providing a more appropriate response for someone experiencing a mental health crisis.

The co-responder program has since evolved into the Crisis Assistance Team (CAT) and is now part of the Flathead City-County Health Department. Operating seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., the staff has quadrupled in size, with two teams that include a therapist and a care coordinator.

Last month, 66% of calls did not involve law enforcement and crisis teams alone have been able to handle a high volume of responses without police while connecting individuals to the most appropriate resources and preventing unnecessary trips to the hospital.

“For law enforcement, the hospital would be the first option, but for us it’s the last,” said James Pyke, the behavioral health supervisor at the Flathead City-County Health Department.

As the department works to prevent hospital visits, teams are also working to reduce recidivism at the Flathead County Detention Center with a new care coordination partnership. In a collaboration with jail staff, the health department and other agencies, care coordinators help establish plans for individuals who are about to be released from the detention center by connecting them to resources like the Warming Center, residential facilities or help with Medicaid applications, which helps set them up for success.

“Maybe they’re being held on a misdemeanor drug charge and they’ve served their time, but there’s nowhere to release them,” Pyke said. “It’s a lot of that population that’s stuck in jail.”

Flathead County Jail Commander Jenny Root last year said some mentally ill offenders cycle in and out of jail over many years because they don’t have resources. Because of the absence of options, those with serious conditions like psychiatric disorders often do not stay on their medications – leaving them untreated in the community.

“It’s frustrating. Our hands are tied,” Root said. “They don’t belong in jail. Our goal is to be returning people to the community better and not watching them deteriorate within our facility — especially a county facility. I can’t get the help for mentally ill (people) in a timely fashion unless they deteriorate and they’ve decompensated enough to where it’s a medical emergency.”

I’m Maggie Dresser, here with a Thursday dispatch of the Daily Roundup.

In her latest column, Bigfork-based cookbook author and food blogger Julie Laing shares her recipe for pea shoot pesto. Check it out here.