SHREWSBURY – Lives saved? Perhaps. Lives changed? Maybe. Lives impacted and re-directed in a positive way? Most definitely.
Finding a better way to handle mental health-related calls has been a top priority for Shrewsbury Police Chief Kevin Anderson since he applied for the job back in 2020. Three years later, he is seeing the positive results that have resulted from his action plan.
The centerpiece of Anderson’s plan was establishing a full-time co-response Jail Diversion clinician. In the year since Jessica Atwood assumed that role, the impact has been undeniable.
According to statistics provided by the Shrewsbury Police Department, between April 1 and Dec. 22, 2022, there were 201 individuals referred to Atwood by officers. In some cases, Atwood accompanied officers on calls, in others, she received a referral and conducted a follow-up visit.
“Of those calls, we had 67 Individuals diverted from unnecessary hospital admissions. That has an estimated healthcare cost savings of over $180,000,” said Anderson. “We had five individuals diverted from arrest. That has an estimated savings to the criminal justice system of almost $15,000.”
While cost savings is quantifiable, the benefits that come from avoiding the stress and stigma of being arrested or forcibly committed, when there is a better path, can be even more valuable.
“One of our goals is to redirect individuals with mental illness and substance abuse disorder into the healthcare system and not into the judicial system. Jessica has been such an asset for us,” said Anderson. “Our officers do a great job but having someone with skills on scene being able to ask the right questions and offer appropriate services it’s a really great partnership. As a police department, it’s important to provide the best services to our community.”
Atwood, who has a degree in Psychology from UMassLowell and a minor in Criminal Justice and a master’s in Mental Health Counseling from Cambridge College, sees her job in two parts. There is the initial interaction with the subject and possibly their family and working toward a positive outcome.
The second is “what happens now?” She says wants to make sure the subject gets the appropriate care. This often means counseling and treatment, as opposed to jail or forced commitment.
“It’s so important to evaluate and listen and let people know you’re there to help,” said Atwood.
She acknowledged that sometimes it’s easier for a person to talk to someone who is not a police officer.
“Then, the big thing is to make sure a person gets the services they need. It’s pretty gratifying to be able to make that happen,” she said.
The individual circumstances of the calls Atwood responds to vary greatly. She has been called to assist with people under 10 and in their 90s. Some individuals have either a mental health condition or substance abuse disorder. However, some are dealing with both, and Atwood admits these calls can present additional challenges.
When Atwood came on board in April 2022, Shrewsbury joined Hudson, Marlborough, Northborough, Southborough, Westborough and a growing number of Massachusetts communities with some type of diversion program. According to Anderson, the statistics were impossible to ignore.
Shrewsbury police responded to 956 mental health related calls between 2017-2021. That was an increase of 38% over the previous five-year period. That number doesn’t include 76 attempted suicides, 243 arrests for impaired driving and 206 opioid overdoes in that same period from 2017-2021.
“When I applied to be chief, we had seen the increase in mental health and substance abuse calls,” said Anderson, who has worked for the SPD for close to 29 years. “I put a diversion plan together and when I was named chief, it was a priority that I wanted to address immediately.”
Anderson took steps to get money put into his budget for a Jail Diversion program and co-response clinician. But then, the department received a state grant to pay for the first three years of the program.
“I definitely want to give a big shoutout to Lt. Nick Perna. Through his hard work, we got a three-year grant at a little over $99,000 per year to pay for the salary and benefits of the clinician,” said Anderson. “We are finishing up the first year of the grant.”
The grant doesn’t come from any law enforcement agency but rather is awarded through the State Department of Mental Health, which has funded such local diversion programs since 2007.
According to State DMH, at least 7 to 10 percent of police calls, across the country, involve a person with some type of mental illness. According to the 2021 Town Report, Shrewsbury police logged 41,938 incidents, meaning that as many as 4,200 may have involved a person with some type of mental health condition.
In her position as a co-response Jail Diversion clinician, Atwood is not actually an employee of Shrewsbury. Rather, she works for Advocates, a Framingham-based agency that provides a variety of mental health services. It has provided co-response Jail Diversion clinicians since 2003, starting in Framingham. The Town of Shrewsbury contracts with Advocates for Atwood’s position.
Atwood has worked as a clinician for 12 years and has been with Advocates since 2016. Prior to being assigned to Shrewsbury, she worked for Advocates Psychiatric Emergency Services as an on-site clinician at Marlborough Hospital in the Emergency Department.
According to Anderson, Atwood’s role is just one piece of the Shrewsbury PD’s commitment to responding to mental health/substance abuse calls in a way that serves both the subject and the community. Another is the SPD’s membership in the Critical Incident Management System (CIMS).
“If we have an overdose in our community or our resident overdoses outside our community, we respond with a detective and a substance abuse counselor to provide services, if necessary,” said Anderson.
In house, Anderson said the department is committed to making sure the men and women in uniform have the resources available to them to address any mental health needs they may have.
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