More funds are going to help people in mental health crisis in Central Oregon.
The Bend City Council authorized an agreement with Deschutes County Wednesday to provide $328,000 in funding to the Mobile Crisis Assessment Team and the Crisis Stabilization Center.
The money will be used to hire more professionals to respond to mental health crisis calls without having a law enforcement officer on scene.
“They do a great job at it. But that’s not really what they were intended to do. So, it definitely is just providing the right resource to the people at the right time,” said Holly Harris, Deschutes County Crisis Program Manager.
Since the beginning of 2020. Bend Police responded to more than 5,100 crisis calls. While nearly all officers are trained to handle these kinds of calls, a trained mental health professional is often a better option.
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