Pandemic delays hiring of staff for Columbia mental health crisis unit
ABC 17 News
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Nearly a year after Columbia city manager John Glascock announced a new unit to handle emergency calls involving mental health crises, the unit remains unstaffed.
Glascock added seven positions in the fiscal year 2021 budget revealed in July to create a public safety mental health collaboration with the Police Department. Health leaders say they hope to create a fourth kind of first responder unit in the county, which would dispatch to emergency calls involving someone having a mental health problem. Supporters of the unit hope it will stop dangerous conflicts between the person and law enforcement and help the person get mental health resources.