Mental Health Crisis Response Institute
Training in mental health crisis response within the particular legal framework used by each profession, covering the spectrum of mental illnesses, a consumer presentation and scenario based role play by professional actors while attendees practice de-escalation by gaining trust to change the behavior of the person being resonded to.
About You
Section 1: About You
First Name
Mark
Last Name
Anderson
Website URL
Country
United States
Section 2: About Your Organization
Organization Name
Barbara Schneider Foundation
Organization Website
Organization Phone
612 801 8572
Organization Address
2419 Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55404
Organization Country
United States
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
Your idea
Name Your Project
Mental Health Crisis Response Institute
Country your work focuses on
United States
Describe Your Idea
Training in mental health crisis response within the particular legal framework used by each profession, covering the spectrum of mental illnesses, a consumer presentation and scenario based role play by professional actors while attendees practice de-escalation by gaining trust to change the behavior of the person being resonded to.
Innovation
What makes your idea unique?
This is program is a unique training project because it crosses so many professional lines, gets people out of their silos so they can learn to collaborate with other professionals and systems in the response to the population struggling with mental illness. By using training as a platform for collaboration building it provides whole community solutions to the difficult of challenge of responding to those in mental health crisis. Because of the stigma associated with mental illness and the lack of understanding of the brain our response to mental illness is outdated. All our health care, education and public safety systems need to be updated to reflect the new knowldge we have recently gained of the brain. This training program provides a cost effective way to harness existing resources to accomplish this task at the local level.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
No
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
What impact have you had?
Thousands have been trained in all the professions that respond to individuals with a mental illness. The program began in Minneapolis and is spreading across the state of Minnesota. We are now working with partners in Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota to start programs there. Attendees report increased job satisfaction, reduced use of force, improved relationships between professionals and clients.
Problem
Our program addresses the problem of the criminalization of mental illness. When someone is psychotic or overcome by the symptoms of their mental illness a community membber calls 911 and a police officer is dispatched, often with no training in mental health issues, Over half of those in our jails and prisons have a mental illness. Criminal justice professionals state, "Our jails have become our primary mental health hospital."
Actions
We are working with local agencies to bring training to their staffs. We are building multi-institutional relationships to stengthen collaboration. We are helping those with a mental illness to share their wisdom about needed reforms.
Results
Improved crisis response, increased safety, reduced use of force, stronger support for recovery, long term cost savings, improved lives for those with a mental illness
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Please address each year separately, if possible.
Year 1, Continue to grow our relationships with leadership of the institutions where we train to gain their support of the mission of updating their system based on the new brain science. Year 2, establish a new program in North Dakota and a new program in South Dakota and bring Western Wisconsin agencies into the program now growing in the Twin Cities area. Year 3, gain state funding for the training as policy makers see that this training should be the way the states do business.
What would prevent your project from being a success?
Lack of funding will slow our effort to provide the trainings necessary to demonstrate to institution leaders and policy makers that there is enormous value in this training.
How many people will your project serve annually?
1001‐10,000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$1000 - 4000
Does your project seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
Sustainability
What stage is your project in?
Operating for more than 5 years
In what country?
United States
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Yes
If yes, provide organization name.
Barbara Schneider Foundation
How long has this organization been operating?
More than 5 years
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with businesses?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with government?
Yes
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
The partnerships enable us to keep the cost of training down and provide a framework for collaboration building.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization?
The three most important actions needed are stengthening the financial support for the project, gaining the support of leaders within the systems where we train, and gaining the support of local and state policy makers.
The Story
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
This project arose out of the fatal shooting by police of a mentally ill woman, Barbara Schneider, who had been active in her community and successfully treated for her mental illness for many years. On June 12, 2000, six police officers, called on a noise complaint, entered her South Minneapolis apartment. Barbara, frightened and delusional, her home space invaded, held a knife. In the confrontation that ensued, Barbara was shot to death. The responding police officers were traumatized and two suffered severely. The events of that day changed their lives. Barbara was not a violent criminal. She was a woman in mental health crisis triggered by bipolar disorder. A similar crisis in 1993 had been resolved peacefully for her when the apartment manager called two social workers instead of 911. There were two other incidents – fatal shootings of persons with mental illness - within a year of Barbara’s death. Had police had the training to de-escalate the crisis and treat this encounter as a health care intervention, all three might have gotten the help they needed.
The first meeting between mental health advocates and law enforcement after Barbara's tragic death, discussed ways of preventing a future tragedy as the best way to work together to respond to Barbara’s death. At first the focus was on the need for training for police. Trainings in the other systems grew out of that beginning.
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
Mark Anderson, the founding and current executive director did mental health and other policy work for the late U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone. He called the group that became the core of BSF together to meet with police and media immediately after Barbara's death in 2000. Then, after Paul Wellstone's tragic death, he went to the group and offered a plan to become a 501(c)(3) and to grow a training mission that continues to grow today.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Friend or family member
If through another, please provide the name of the organization or company
Linden Hills Power and Light
 | 136 weeks agoMark Anderson updated this Competition Entry. |
| 136 weeks agoMark Anderson submitted this idea. |
