Grant Integrated Services plans mental health response team

MOSES LAKE — Grant Integrated Services has received a $185,000 grant from the state to create a mobile response team that will go out and help people in crisis as well as those struggling with addiction and living with mental illness.

“We’re hoping to help individuals who may be experiencing crises, and then voluntarily offer to assist,” explained Lisa Cordova, the director of clinical services for Grant Integrated Services.

Cordova said the one-year grant allows the county to hire a professionally trained counselor and pair them with a peer support person who knows something about life on the ragged edge.

“We want someone who has lived experience with behavioral issues, or addiction, or mental health issues,” Cordova said. “The team will be available to partner with law enforcement or medical professionals.”

The hope is a trained response team can go out or be on call and make it easier and less dangerous for law enforcement to respond to emergency calls involving people who might be mentally ill, as well as provide a first response to folks struggling with mental illness.

“Mental illness is very prevalent, but people still don’t want to engage it,” Cordova said. “A lot of people who abuse drugs and alcohol have underlying mental health issues as well.”

While the concept is new to Grant County, Catholic Family & Child Service in Yakima has had mobile response team for several years now.

Cronin said the mobile team responds to calls to the agency’s crisis line, meets them “where they are” and tries to provide whatever help they can.

“We find the peer counselors very effective,” said Robin Cronin, the compliance officer with Catholic Family & Child Service. “They provide hope, and example, that you can succeed and overcome this.”

Cordova said she hopes the Grant County team will be hired and in place by the end of January, though she is concerned about finding both a qualified professional and a gifted peer counselor to work solely for the year the grant money is in place.

And she is also afraid that once a team is in place, they may find they are far busier than expected.

“There may be too big a demand for one team,” she said.