Wake Program to Assist Mentally Ill Recieves State Award

4/11/2008

The Wake County Crisis Intervention Team, consisting of law enforcement, mental health professionals and advocates for the mentally ill, received a 2007 Outstanding County Program Award from the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) in March 2008. The County received the award for developing a cost efficient program that addresses the rising number of mentally ill inmates being kept in the county jail.

"I'm proud of the service this team continues to provide to inmates and the public," said Tony Gurley, 2007 chairman of the Wake County Board of Commissioners. "This program has not only helped a number of inmates with mental illness, but it has reduced the costs associated with treating the inmates."

Wake County spends approximately $93 a day on each mentally ill inmate, $26 more than is spent on inmates that are not mentally ill. Inmates with mental illness have an average stay of 90 days, compared to just 19 days for other inmates. As a result of the Wake County Crisis Intervention Team’s efforts, the program has diverted more than 200 people from jail, saving an estimated $1.7 million.

The program not only represents potentially significant cost savings, but it also enables the persons with mental illness to continue receiving their treatment in their community. The program uses existing community resources and volunteers to provide the training to law enforcement officers. The training is also offered to the municipal police departments within Wake County.

The NCACC Outstanding County Program Awards are designed to recognize programs that involve a uniquely innovative process, solution or idea to address a county or multi-jurisdictional issue, prevent a future problem from developing and share information with other counties.

More than 50 programs in three categories were nominated for the awards. Wake County was one of four winners in the Human Services category.

back to current news items