Mental health initiative in Dauphin County helps keep people out of prison
Before the initiative, people with mental illness were spending more time in prison compared to those without mental illness. Author: Chelsea Koerbler (FOX43) Updated: 7:21 PM EDT May 20, 2021
DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. In Dauphin County, the way officials are dealing with people with severe mental health illness has been nationally recognized. Through a program implemented over the last few years, they ve been able to significantly cut down on the amount of people being held in the county prison. mental illness is not a crime, said Dauphin County Commissioner George Hartwick when speaking about the county s Stepping Up program.
Updated: 7:06 PM EST Dec 23, 2020 By Tom Lehman Harrisburg is expanding a program that pairs city police officers with civilians trained to help people who may be experiencing a mental health crisis. We get a suicidal call from the person, from the family saying that their family member is suicidal,” said Liz Manning.Manning is a co-responder. She accompanies officers who are also trained in crisis intervention, but she’s the only co-responder assigned to the Harrisburg Police Department.Capt. Dennis Sorenson said the city is planning to fund two more full-time co-responders to help deescalate situations in which the presence of law enforcement could make things tenser. If you have multiple people there who have the same skill set, it increases our chances of getting them the help they need without anybody getting hurt,” he said.Co-responders operating through the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office can also help people in crisis get connected to the s