During May, which is Mental Health Awareness Month, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office wants to remind the community that it takes the mental well-being of community members very seriously.

Each year, one in five adults in the U.S. experiences a mental health condition, and this past year, COVID-19 has caused an increased amount of stress.

The Sheriff’s Department understands that people experiencing mental health crises are often in need of immediate response, quality care and follow-up. Working with its partners at the Department of Behavioral Wellness, the Sheriff’s Department offers the community an innovative resource with mental health co-response teams.

Santa Barbra County has three full time co-response teams, each with one deputy and one licensed clinician that respond out in the field with the intent to de-escalate people in crisis; divert them from the criminal justice system; connect them directly with care; and provide follow-up after the crisis has subsided.

The co-response teams have been in operation since February 2020. In 2020 the Sheriff’s Office had 2,984 mental health crisis calls. Of those calls, 1,606 were handled by a co-response team, and fewer than 15 of them ended with an arrestee going to jail.

Mental illness itself is not a crime, and it is the job of law enforcement teams to ensure, to the best of their abilities, that someone having a mental health crisis is safe and gets the support and services needed.

“Our co-response teams are one of the ways that the Sheriff’s Office is working to respond to the mental health needs of our community members,” the Sheriff’s Department said.

To learn more about the Behavioral Sciences Unit and co-response teams, visit the Sheriff’s Department website. There is also a 911 checklist with information for family members in crisis, and explains what the Sheriff’s Office offers during a crisis response.