NYC’s B-HEARD mental health scheme show signs of success

One of the primary aims of the program is to treat mental health emergencies as a health issue, not a public safety problem.

The early data has shown that the pilot scheme has been successful and is on track to reach its goals.

In 95% of cases, individuals received help from B-HEARD teams, compared to the 82% of traditional 911 responses which involved the NYPD.

Because of the presence of trained mental health professionals, more of these individuals in need have received specific help, resulting in less hospitalisations.

As opposed to the 82% that were sent by traditional teams to the hospital, only 50% of cases were sent by the B-HEARD teams.

Instead, 25% received on-site care including de-escalation, counselling or referral to community-based care, and another 20% were transported to a community-based care location. Not only this, but all the individuals then received follow-up care.

This is especially promising, as it allows individuals to receive the help they need rather than a general admission to already over-crowded hospitals where they may not get the treatment they require.

Programs such as this and CAHOOTs in Oregon follow calls to defund the police, and direct more money and resources into community care and mental health resources.

The police force are often the first response to 911 calls, which can lead to violent encounters between the police and those in need of help, such as the killing of Walter White Jr. who was shot dead by police after they responded to a mental health crisis call by his family.

A 2015 study found that those with an untreated mental illness are 16 times more likely to be killed by law enforcement than the rest of the population.

Since 2015, law enforcement officers have fatally shot more than 1,300 people with mental illness.

Such an initiative is more than welcome, and will be the first steps in a long road to decriminalising mental illness and reimagining the way that we deal with mental health.