This Police-Mental Health Collaboration (PMHC) Toolkit provides resources that assist law enforcement agencies in partnering with service providers, advocates, and individuals with mental illness and/or intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), with the goals of ensuring the safety of all, to respond effectively, and to improve access to services and supports for people with mental illness and I/DD.
A video introduction to the toolkit is provided from the Deputy Director of the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), which provided resources for the development of the toolkit. This is followed by a video on the issues and facts related to police-mental health issues. Written information provides facts on people with I/DD regarding their overrepresentation in all components of the criminal justice system. It is also explained that developmental disabilities are not the same as mental health disabilities and may require different responses. Featured instructional information addresses the essential elements of a specialized law enforcement development or improvement for responding to people with mental illness. This is followed by a video and printed instruction on the features and benefits of a PMHC program, types of PMHC programs, and the essential elements of a PMHC program. Training, organizational structure, and staffing required for each of the five approaches for implementing a PMHC is addressed in the toolkit. A video and printed outline cover an overview of planning and implementing a PMHC program in collaboration with key stakeholders. This is followed by a video and printed outline of an overview of the necessary training for officers in safely and effectively managing interactions with people with mental illness. Other toolkit resources include videos and printed outlines for managing police-mental health collaboration, measuring the performance of such collaborations, and delivering behavioral health in police mental health collaboration programs.