Roselle Police Department gets grant approval for another mental health counselor

The Roselle Police Department will have two full-time counselors serving people in mental health crises this year.

The positions will be funded through a $125,000 grant from the Bloomingdale Township Mental Health Board.

Last July, the village applied for grant funding to expand counseling services from 60 hours to 80 hours per week. That would allow the department to have counselors available seven days per week, and $189,100 has been budgeted in salary and benefits for these positions. The grant will offset the costs for most of the expenses.

Currently, the only full-time counselor is Colleen Martinez, who works for the DuPage County Health Department. Roselle police are searching for another full-time counselor.

Martinez offers counseling and follow-up calls for victims of domestic violence, mental illness, child or elder abuse, crisis intervention, sexual abuse, substance abuse, and other youth and family issues in the village.

Roselle Police Chief Steve Herron said from June of 2020 to last June, Martinez handled 543 cases. Of those, 46% were for domestic violence, 19% were for mental health, 7% were mental health referrals, 4% were check-ins, 2% were juvenile cases, 3% were village hall referrals and other cases were unrelated to police work.

Some of the work has involved contacting other municipalities for people currently in the village who are from out of state.

Herron and Martinez believe having this option saves lives of officers and civilians. According to a 2018 study by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, up to 10% of police-civilian interactions involve a civilian with a mental health disorder. An officer is 4½ times more likely to use force during these interactions on a person with a disability, increasing the risk of harm for the officer and the individual in crisis.