DEPARTMENT:?Police?
DEPARTMENT HEAD:?William P. McManus?
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED:?City Wide?
SUBJECT:??
Grant from the?U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs?(OJP), Bureau Justice Assistance (BJA)?for the FY?2020?Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program.?
?
SUMMARY:??
An ordinance authorizing the acceptance of the FY 2020 Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program grant from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs?(OJP), Bureau Justice Assistance (BJA). The grant award is $750,000 for the period of October 1, 2020,?through September 30,?2023.? This ordinance will authorize an in-kind match not to exceed $499,104 and establishes a total budget of $ 1,249,104.
A briefing on this grant was presented to the Public Safety Committee on November 17, 2020, and the Committee recommended this item for City Council approval.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:??
?
The Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program grant will help augment the efforts of the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) Southwest Texas Fusion Center (SWTFC) with support from the Center for Healthcare Services (CHCS) to expand the use of mental health courts, establish a local multidisciplinary threat assessment/management team, and increase public safety in our local Qualified Opportunity Zones.
On October 1, 2019, under the guidance of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, the SWTFC created the Triweekly Threat Assessment Group (TTAG) (a pilot multidisciplinary threat assessment/management team). The group consists of a forensic psychologist, a licensed social worker, two mental health peace officers, three detectives, a paramedic, a representative from the county jail, and a representative from the mental health court. TTAG meets at minimum three times a week assessing, mitigating, and managing targeted violence threats. Most of their cases involve people with serious mental illness and/or co-occurring disorders. All mental/behav...
Click here for full text