1 of 10
Erica Techo
Chris Baker and Immie Parmley at the May 4, 2017 South Shelby Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
2 of 10
Erica Techo
Katie Dorough, George Andrews and Terri Mooney at the May 4, 2017 South Shelby Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
3 of 10
Erica Techo
Ellen Godfrey at the May 4, 2017 South Shelby Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
4 of 10
Erica Techo
Donna Boyd with Cardiac Solutions and Natalie Locastro with Easter Seals of Birmingham at the May 4, 2017 South Shelby Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
5 of 10
Erica Techo
Elise Hearn at the May 4, 2017 South Shelby Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
6 of 10
Erica Techo
Kaitlin Candelaria with Rehab Select at Shelby Ridge at the May 4, 2017 South Shelby Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
7 of 10
Erica Techo
Ashleigh Finn at the May 4, 2017 South Shelby Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
8 of 10
Erica Techo
Shane Armstrong and Shawn Callahan with Premier Assisted Living at the May 4, 2017 South Shelby Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
9 of 10
Erica Techo
Members of the Chelsea COP at the May 4, 2017 South Shelby Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
10 of 10
Erica Techo
Allison Boyd speaks at the May 4, 2017 South Shelby Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and as part of helping to raise awareness, Shelby County’s Allison Boyd spoke to the South Shelby Chamber of Commerce about mental health, resources and future programs planned for the county.
Boyd is the mental health programs coordinator and legal counsel to the probate judge and works with law enforcement, mental health agencies, treatment courts and community groups to work to address mental health issues in the county.
The chamber’s May 4 luncheon focused on spotlighting health care, and looking at the array of health care providers in the room, Boyd said she believes most people “wouldn’t give it a second thought” if they were facing a physical ailment such as a cough or broken bone — they would go straight to the doctor.
“But when it comes to our mental health, things are a little bit different,” she said. “You see, when it comes to our mental health, there’s just a lot of stigma about not receiving treatment.”
That stigma revolves around being “too strong” to succumb to mental health issues, Boyd said. Other people will not be able to receive mental health care due to medical costs or lack of insurance coverage. Or they may not have a nearby mental health facility, Boyd said.
“We are blessed here in Shelby County because there are many counties that don’t have psychiatric services located in their county,” she said. She also noted that when mental health care transitioned from a state to a community issue in 2009, the number of beds available to patients drastically decreased.
“We went from one hospital that had 5,000 people in it, to about 479 total beds in the state,” Boyd said.
While there are options for treatment at local hospitals or other service providers, a limited number of beds prevents everyone in need from getting help, Boyd said.
“I’ve given you a little bit of information about what the problem is, what the treatment options are,” Boyd said. “So the next thing that we look at is, ‘Who do you call in an emergency?’”
Boyd discussed four options for a mental health emergency — a local mental health center, the emergency room at a hospital, the county probate court or 911.
A local provider can offer help, but it might take days or weeks to see a doctor, get a referral and finally get the necessary treatment, Boyd said. The emergency room might not have open beds, she said, and it might be necessary to go out of the city or even county to receive treatment.
Even the probate court is not a failsafe. In order to offer help, the individual in crisis must either be a danger to themselves or others. Without that, Boyd said, the probate court can’t intervene.
“Your fourth option is you call 911. … And that’s what happens a lot of times when you have someone that’s truly in a mental health crisis situation,” Boyd said.
First responders to those situations will include firefighters, EMTs and police officers, Boyd said, with police likely being the respondents if the person in crisis is a threat or threatening.
“The only problem with that is our police officers are trained to be police officers,” Boyd said. “They’re not trained to be social workers. They’re not trained to be therapists.”
To help prepare law enforcement for some of the situations they may face when responding to a case involving an individual with mental illness, local law enforcement has worked to learn the signs and symptoms of mental illness, go through simulations of mental illness and learn the laws related to mental health. One such training took place in October.
“The feedback we got almost immediately was, ‘This is wonderful, but what do we do with it now?’ We’ve got the training, but we don’t really have the pieces in place to make a difference and utilize that training,” Boyd said.
They are working to provide those resources, she said. Other first responders, including local fire departments, have asked about receiving similar training. They also created a Crisis Response Team with representatives from a variety of community programs, organizations and first responders.
“We’re just trying to identify problems,” Boyd said. “We’re trying to identify ways that we and our community can do better with our mental health services.”
So far, they have developed a “pocket guide” for first responders, which can help them know who to call. They’re also working on a resource guide for family members, which can be left behind to show families who they can contact.
A final goal, Boyd said, is to shift the burden from law enforcement. While they will always be the first point of contact, Boyd said, they want to establish something that “runs interference” when EMTs repeatedly respond to a home “enough times that we know the situation.” This group would be able to follow-up with the individual in crisis and hopefully encourage them to seek help “when things start to go downhill,” Boyd said.
“So how do we keep moving forward? Well, we have to keep talking. That’s the big thing, and that’s the place we are today,” Boyd said.