Counselor And Law Enforcement Partnership (CALEP) Program

The Saranac Lake Police Department’s Counselor and Law Enforcement Partnership (CALEP) program utilizes an integrated crisis clinician when responding to noncriminal and nonviolent calls for service within the Saranac Lake community.
 

• Agency: Saranac Lake Police Department
   
• Location: Saranac Lake, N.Y.
   
• Department size: Small (<25 Officers)
   
• Practice started September 2021         
   
• Active
  
   

Calls for service involving a person experiencing a mental health crisis are among the most complex and time consuming for law enforcement, according to the Bureau of Justice Assistance Toolkit on Police-Mental Health Collaboration. A person in a mental health crisis experiences an event in which their normal coping mechanisms are overwhelmed, potentially resulting in an extreme emotional, physical, mental, and/or behavioral response. The crisis can be exacerbated by alcohol and/or drug use. Police officers typically arrive first on the scene but have limited training to adequately help a person in crisis. When responding, officers must make quick judgments about the intent and mental state of the person in crisis. This requires special skills, techniques, and abilities to effectively identify and resolve issues while also minimizing the potential for violence and increasing access to resources.

The Saranac Lake Police Department experienced a large volume of calls for service that involved individuals experiencing mental distress and/or substance use emergencies. In response to these calls, the department sought to improve the connection with behavioral health crisis services available in southern Franklin County, where the majority of Saranac Lake is located. To that end, the police department embedded a licensed clinician within the agency to address the need for crisis interventions services.

Program Description

The Counselor and Law Enforcement Partnership (CALEP) program is a collaborative initiative among the Saranac Police Department; Citizen Advocates, a trusted partner within the community; and Franklin County Community Services that provides preventive and recovery treatment to those experiencing mental health and substance use challenges. Through the program, a licensed clinician, employed by Citizen Advocates, is available to respond to mental health or substance abuse calls. Once responding officers determine the situation is safe, they contact the clinician to aid in response. Upon arrival, the clinician determines an appropriate type of response for the situation and presents the individual with available community-based care options. If police receive a call for a person in crisis outside of the clinician’s scheduled workday, responding officers request the individual’s permission to refer them to Citizen Advocates and convey that Citizen Advocates is a resource to help and the referral is not punitive. 

Saranac Lake Police Department, Citizen Advocates, and Franklin County Community Services have a memorandum of understanding that details confidentiality requirements, insurance responsibilities, and agency roles and responsibilities. The police chief and clinician routinely meet with Citizen Advocates staff and the director of community services to discuss any operational issues, areas of improvement, and more efficient ways to close any identified gaps in services.

Saranac Lake police officers also routinely receive training on Crisis Intervention Teams. This training is a specialized and comprehensive 40-hour course that educates officers on proper responses to incidents involving a person experiencing a mental health crisis.

Funding

The Saranac Lake Police Department supports the CALEP program within its existing resources. Citizen Advocates employs the clinician. 

Relevant Partnerships

Citizen Advocates, Franklin County Department of Community Services and Mental Health, St. Joseph’s Addiction Treatment & Recovery Centers, and Community Connections of Franklin County.

Supportive Research

Implementing effective law enforcement responses for those with mental health needs can increase connections to resources, reduce repeat calls for service, minimize arrest, help ensure officer and civilian safety, and reduce use of force. Officers trained in Crisis Intervention Team programs are better equipped to communicate more effectively and understand the needs of individuals with mental illness. By educating officers in available treatment options and embedding a licensed clinician within police departments, trained officers are more confident in connecting individuals to treatment, in lieu of incarceration.

An evaluation conducted on Crisis Call Diversion Programs in Louisville, KY showed a benefit when co-responder teams responded to mental health disturbance calls for service. The average cost per event decreased when mental health co-responders provided acute behavioral health crisis support. Additionally, co-response plays a significant role in freeing up officer’s time to focus on other urgent calls for service.

Critical Success Factors

• Crisis Intervention Team training is critical. Officers trained in the crisis intervention team model have improved interactions with and responses to individuals experiencing mental health, substance abuse, and emotional crises.  
   
• Effective collaboration is key to successfully connecting individuals to behavioral health care in lieu of emergency services or incarceration. Building relationships and developing trust between police officers and the clinician can support these efforts.
   
• Routine meetings between the police and mental health professionals help ensure effective communication and decrease barriers to a successful relationship.
   
• Voluntary engagement between officers and the clinician builds officer buy-in. Officers see the positive effects broadened by the scope of assistance provided firsthand. 
   
• An executed MOU among all partners establishes clear roles and responsibilities and is vital to sharing information and closing gaps in services. 
   
• Coordinated practices that promote safe on-scene responses, referrals, information sharing, and collaborative training are essential. Routine meetings and an MOU can support these practices.
   
• The presence of clinicians at the police station ensures regular and informal interactions with officers for effective collaboration, relationship and trust building, and support.
   
• Hiring clinicians with a range of experience (e.g., working with previously incarcerated individuals) encourages a balanced co-response team. Additionally, including police executives in the interview and hiring process for counselors incorporates police insight and helps foster police officer engagement with the clinicians. 
  
   

Lessons Learned 

• Explain the importance of partnering with a local mental health clinician to law enforcement staff to alleviate officer hesitancy. The Saranac Lake Police Department reports that officers doubled the use of the licensed clinician from 2021 to 2022. Officers expressed that while hesitant in the beginning, they came to understand that the community benefits by having access to a designated clinician.
   
• Develop a procedure for continuous coverage when clinicians are unavailable. Saranac Lake does not have the capacity to staff a clinician 24/7 but identified methods of ensuring people in crisis were connected to available mental health services during off hours.
   
• Maintain open lines of communication between partnered clinician(s) and officers to encourage trust and familiarity, as officers may be hesitant to welcome non-law enforcement professionals to assist in potential criminal matters. Keep lines of communication open so officers and clinicians can share information promptly, accurately, and in real time.

• To enhance this program, the Saranac Lake Police Department plans to develop a tracking system for CALEP-related calls. Additionally, a new records management system will have a mechanism for entering these calls for service.
   
• Saranac Lake seeks to hire an additional clinician willing to work flexible hours to expand the scope and availability of mental health services.
   

• Saranac Lake Police Department plans to send police officers and counselors to joint Crisis Intervention Team trainings to foster collaborative working relationships.

   

   

  
   

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Published: 06/2024