Last October the Ottawa Police Department received a Justice Assistant Grant, or JAG, of over $250,000 to create a Community Policing Unit with a Community Policing Officer and Crisis Co-Responder. The Crisis Co-Responder will be deployed with a police officer to calls for service to provide behavioral health interventions. The Co-Responder would also provide treatment planning and referrals, after the fact, to coordinate mental health and other resources for comprehensive crisis prevention. The intent of the Community Policing Unit is to improve outcomes for individuals who present with a mental health crisis and to provide outreach, education and resources for those at-risk, to divert individuals and families into services before they reach crisis levels.
They teamed with the Elizabeth Layton Center and Ottawa Police Chief Adam Weingartner announced yesterday that the Crisis Co-Responder position has now been posted and is encouraging those people interested in the position to apply through the Elizabeth Layton Center.
