Rotarians heard an inspiring story of passion today in the criminal justice system from Tommy Smith.  His 30 years in law enforcement, almost every position possible, took a different turn in April of 2014 with the development of the Assistance Stabilization & Prevention Team.  The Team is a cooperative effort of Jefferson and Chambers counties that works from a grant from Medicaid and Medicare.  His $300,000 annual budget from the grants will end in 2018. 

 

One in ten calls to 911 concern mental health issues.  Presently, there are three teams of law enforcement officers and mental health professionals from Spindletop that can assist in these calls.  The law enforcement officers are especially trained to be on the teams.  The goal is to keep persons with diagnosed mental health issues out of the jails and into E R rooms where they can be evaluated and helped and given proper medication.  If the person is sent to jail the chances of proper care and diagnosis are minimal and costly.  The team also works to identify people who have been in jail and the ER to outpatient clinics where they will get assistance.  The goal is to help these people become a participating part in the general community by continued medication and employment. 

 

Once every two months, members of the Emergency Rooms, Mental Health professionals and law enforcement meet to discuss what they are identifying as problems and what progress has been made with people who have been helped.  Teams are also working with some of the local judges to help evaluate people who might possibly be assisted on intake and kept out of jail.  Rotary’s Randy Shelton was identified as one of the judges in family court. 

 

In the first year of the program they found that 64% of the people they took in were on Medicaid and 21% were from low income households. The team saved the community $2 million.   Tommy Smith wants to help people who can be saved and assist them to succeed.  It’s a community issue and not just law enforcement or emergency rooms that are involved.  The situation impacts us all.