Lake County seeking applicants for health crisis response teams
The Lake County Health Department is hiring a new kind of first responders - ones sent out to engage county residents who are in a mental health crisis and connect them quickly to the help they need.
The two-person teams will be made up of mental health clinicians and someone with firsthand experience of mental illness or substance use disorders. Health department officials hope that combination of skills will be effective in getting people proper care.
Specialists will engage with those in crisis, regardless of their health insurance status, to figure out what they need to stabilize in that moment, connect them to services and reduce inpatient hospitalization, said Greskiw, who will serve as coordinator for the new mobile response team program.
Greskiw said sometimes the best course of action is to get someone experiencing a crisis to a hospital, but all too often it isn't as effective as much cheaper and potentially less traumatizing alternatives.
Greskiw said mobile response teams will connect those in crisis with other agencies, including the Living Room Wellness Center, a special intervention program in Waukegan run by the nonprofit Independence Center, and A Safe Place, a nonprofit that provides services to victims of domestic violence and human trafficking.
Greskiw expects to start dispatching teams to Lake County residents in need next month. Hiring is in process with the goal of having every position filled by July.
The mobile response program is funded by a $1.9 million state grant.
Greskiw said she hopes the program also will help reduce the stigma surrounding mental health services.
"This program strives to create space for meaningful conversations about what a person needs during a mental health emergency," Greskiw said.
"Collaboration with clients and the community is going to be crucial in making sure that the Mobile Response Program is successful."
For more information or to apply, visit lakecountyil.gov/4652/Mobile-Response-Program.