SARANAC LAKE — A proposed program to embed a therapist in the Saranac Lake Police Department to assist on mental health and addiction calls has received state approval. At a public hearing Thursday, organizers from the village, county and Citizen Advocates shared more details about when, where and how the therapist would work.

The Counselor and Law Enforcement Partnership pilot project would be a collaborative initiative between Citizen Advocates, the Saranac Lake Police Department and Franklin County Community Services to shift some mental health-, homelessness- and substance abuse-related responsibilities from the police onto social work professionals.

This is one of the proposals made by the village’s police review committee, which organized last year after an executive order from Gov. Andrew Cuomo mandated every police department review its policies.

Village police Chief James Joyce has said the department’s calls break down to around 60% human services and 40% law enforcement.

Citizen Advocates Health Operations Director Courtney Frank said the organization got the “blessing” of the state Office of Mental Health last week and is “good to go” as far as New York’s approval. Locally, she said the program just needs the village board’s approval. Village board Trustee and committee member Melinda Little said this is “great news.”

Little said public comment on the proposals will last until the end of the work day today. The committee will meet on Thursday to make tweaks to the language and the village board plans to adopt the proposed policy changes at its board meeting on Monday, March 22. The deadline to do so is April 1.

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Hiring

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Frank said a therapist would be hired, trained and paid by Citizen Advocates. Citizen Advocates would work with Joyce and Franklin County Community Services and Mental Health Director Suzanne Lavigne during the interview and selection process for the therapist.

The therapist’s services would be reimbursable through Medicaid and health insurance, which she hopes will make the program “sustainable.”

Don Morgan, a retired professor of human services from North Country Community College, asked what qualifications the potential therapist would need.

Frank said they are looking for a licensed social worker or mental health counselor, but added that these qualifications can be hard to find sometimes. If one can not be found she said requirements can be loosened to hire a unlicensed therapist who has a master’s degree in these fields.

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How it will work

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Frank made a point to say the therapist would not ride along with police officers. If officers determine a therapist is needed and the scene is safe they would call the CALEP worker in to talk people through the crisis. She said the therapist would use an iPad to access Citizen Advocate’s electronic health record.

David Lynch, a police reform activist and sometimes critic of the committee, asked how officers will determine if a situation is safe for the therapist.

Joyce was not attending this meeting, so he could not answer directly.

“They’re the experts in determining safety,” Lavigne said. “It will be their call.”

She said under mental hygiene law police can take someone into custody to bring them to a hospital for evaluation.

Franklin County Assistant District Attorney and committee member David Hayes said if there is a threat the person may be brought to the hospital for assessment and treatment.

Lynch also asked if the department will track the number of safe and unsafe calls, adding his belief that most of the time they are safe. This question was not answered, as Joyce was not in attendance.

The Enterprise asked in a situation involving drugs or addiction what would take priority — CALEP assistance or a drug arrest.

Frank said without Joyce she could not answer fully, but said when the therapist is called out that means the officer determined it is a mental health or addiction issue and not a law enforcement issue.

Frank said Citizen Advocates and the village have put in an offer to lease space for the CALEP therapist in the Saranac Lake Police Department building.

She said the therapist could talk with someone on a crisis call at their home or at this office, which she called a “more confidential location.” They would talk wherever the therapist and individual felt most comfortable.

Sarah Clarkin asked if an individual wants to speak with the CALEP therapist at the office, who would drive them there.

Frank said the police would drive them and the clinician would follow.

If the person needs a higher level of care and can be deescalated the therapist would assist the police with transporting them to a hospital.

After the incident, the therapist would follow up with the person within 24 hours and possibly refer them to ongoing care.

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Hours

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Betsy Fuller asked if CALEP will be a 24/7 service. Frank said Joyce crunched the numbers and pinpointed times when the police get the most mental health calls — between 3 and 9 p.m.

“This CALEP therapist is going to have some unique hours,” she said. “This is not going to be 9 to 5.”

She said the therapist will work from late afternoon until night and be on-call during the morning hours. They would receive extra pay for calls during those hours. On weekends she said the Citizen Advocates mobile crisis team would respond.

Don Morgan asked what the therapist will do when there is not a crisis. Frank said they will be taking the telehealth and crisis calls for Citizen Advocate’s Saranac Lake clinic.

“They will be busy if they’re not being utilized by the Saranac Lake PD,” Frank said.

She said the therapist will give officers mental health crisis training and techniques. They can also provide mental and emotional support for the police.

“Whenever they need to debrief after a tragic event or something that happened in the community, they can be there to help the Saranac Lake PD through that,” Frank said.

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Praise for the program

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Several members of the public and the police review committee said they are excited for the CALEP program.

Jessica Bordeau, a Certified Peer Specialist with Essex County Mental Health, works on the county’s Law Enforcement Mental Health Referral System crisis intervention team. She said this program is similar to CALEP and has worked well in Essex County.

“I’ve witnessed first-hand just how beneficial this can be for Franklin County,” Bordeau said.

“I’ve been practicing criminal law in Franklin County for 10 years and just the evolution of the mental health issues in this area have become so outstanding,” Hayes said. “This is something the village really needs and can be a great assistance to the police department and my office.”

Lavigne said in the past, the only time Citizen Advocates would work with the police department was during a big crisis.

She shared national statistics from the Treatment Advocacy Center showing that one in four fatal police encounters involve someone with severe mental illness, one in five inmates have a severe mental illness and one in 10 of all law enforcement responses involve someone with severe mental illness.

She said there are approximately 515,000 people in New York with serious mental illness.

Lavigne said the CALEP program was directly inspired by the CAHOOTS (Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets) program in Eugene, Oregon which has operated since 1989 with recognized success.

St. Joseph’s Addiction Treatment and Recovery Center’s Community Services Director Robin Gay said she was glad Saranac Lake has been “welcoming” to the idea of the CALEP program, adding that not all communities welcome programs like this.

“I’m pretty excited about the CALEP program,” Gay said. “If we quickly capture individuals reaching out to local police departments who more than likely are just asking for help and a direction to go in, I think that is going to be a huge benefit to the individuals.”