JIM LUDWICK Journal Staff Writer
Copyright 2006 Albuquerque Journal
Mayor Martin Chávez on Monday announced a pilot project to help deal with mental health issues that are discovered when police respond to crisis situations.
Police will be able to put troubled people in contact with a new team of social workers that will help deal with issues such as suicide prevention, family abuse and runaways.
The Crisis Outreach and Support Team initially will have four civilian members working for the Albuquerque Police Department in conjunction with the Department of Family and Community Services. Money will come from the city’s public safety tax.
If successful, the COAST program eventually will be enlarged.
Chávez said it will be a valuable part of the city’s efforts to deal with mental health issues before they lead to serious public safety problems.
Police Chief Ray Schultz said it will “help make sure that people do not slip through the cracks - that they get help.”
“Our goal is to have it on the street and be active by the end of February. ... We want to make sure it is successful and becomes part of the permanent way of life in Albuquerque,” he said.
Chávez has been pushing for better ways of dealing with the mentally ill, including the idea of mandatory mental health outpatient treatment, with a requirement that people with mental illnesses take their medications.
Gov. Bill Richardson last week backed legislation that would lead to such an approach statewide. It’s known as Kendra’s Law, patterned after a New York law named for a woman who died after being pushed onto subway tracks by a mentally ill man.
Chávez said he was pleased with the governor’s decision, and he believes the state will get a Kendra’s Law.
January 24, 2006