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Young County Sheriff Travis Babcock said a new county program to provide in-home crisis treatment for mentally ill residents, as well as more mental health treatment in the jail, will be up and running “real soon.”
Sheriff Babcock reported to County Commissioners on Jan. 13 that he had received final approval on a $400,000 state grant to create the mobile mental health response team, which will consist of a peace officer, nurse, and social worker who will assess the patient using an iPad in a telemedicine setup, he said.
The Sheriff ’s IT team is working on connectivity issues, he said. Sheriff Babcock has ordered the team’s two unmarked SUVs which will be “strategically placed” in the County to allow nurses and other members of the team to quickly respond to an incident.
The teams will respond to calls throughout Young County and possibly help out in Jack and Archer counties as well, he said.
“If someone is in crisis we will go to them,” Sheriff Babcock said. “I’m hoping it’s going to be real soon.”
The Sheriff will hire an additional nurse, and will send 24 sworn offi cers, 20 jailers, nine dispatchers, three nurses and one school resource officer in the cities of Graham and Olney and the County to de-escalation and crisis training as part of the grant.
The Sheriff 's Office also will collect data to aid in extending the program, he said.