GREENFIELD — With the help of a $200,000 Massachusetts Jail Diversion Program grant, the Greenfield Police Department’s co-response program will expand to include two full-time clinicians who will assist officers with mental health and addiction-related emergencies.

As part of the program, which partners the department with Clinical & Support Options (CSO), licensed clinicians ride alongside police officers and provide guidance during behavioral health calls. Although they are embedded with the department, these individuals are not Police Department employees. The co-response program launched in 2021 and the expansion will take place this year.

“It’s been a very successful partnership in Greenfield, in large part because the Police Department has become so open to … collaborating with us, learning more about mental health issues and [learning] how to support people with mental health issues out in the field when they’re on the job,” said Heather-Lee Marsh, vice president of acute and day programs at CSO. “They’ve taken a lot of interest in furthering their education, furthering their experience. They’ve worked really well with our co-responders.”

Marsh said mental health clinicians need to have an interest in community work and “forging new ground,” as this is a relatively new model.

The program, which is based on similar models throughout the state, grew out of years of conversations between Greenfield Police and CSO. The partnership, which has been grant-funded for the past two years, aims to divert people who are experiencing a behavioral health crisis away from jails or emergency rooms. According to Police Sgt. Chris Greene, the program has resulted in a nearly 50% hospital diversion rate.

“It’s been a huge success,” Greene said of the partnership. “That’s half of the people who normally would be sent to the [Baystate Franklin Medical Center Emergency Department] for evaluations. That’s an extra burden on the ED.”

Joining the current clinician Kaitlin Richotte will be Katherine Russell, Greene said. Russell started in the role at the beginning of the month. A native of Vermont, she recently returned from Savannah, Georgia, where she earned her master’s degree in social work from Savannah State University. While in Savannah, Russell gained experience working at county jails, while also completing internships in the area of substance use counseling.

Russell said after six years in Savannah, she was ready to move back to Vermont “to give back to this area.”

“I’m excited for [the opportunity],” she said. “I’m excited to put to use what I learned there.”

Greene, who oversees the co-response program, said it allows issues to be addressed in the field that might otherwise be addressed after transport to the hospital or jail.

“For the person who needs the help, they’re getting a clinician immediately on the scene, and everything that needs to be further done to help them is scheduled and followed through with CSO,” said Greene. “It’s a home run for the person who needs it.”

In addition to working with the Greenfield Police Department, the clinicians will work with departments in Deerfield and Montague.

“It’s been really successful,” said CSO’s Associate Vice President of Marketing and Development Geoffrey Oldmixon. “The jail diversion strategy of the grant really does coincide with de-escalation strategies we see in behavioral health. So when these partnerships underscore some of the same goals, they tend to be successful.”

Additionally, the department received a $100,000 Crisis Intervention Team grant. The funding, which the city has received for roughly a decade, helps to support the Crisis Intervention Team, a community group comprised of local mental health and addiction specialists working in partnership with the Greenfield Police Department.

“Crisis intervention teams play a critical role in behavioral health situations,” Deputy Police Chief William Gordon said in a statement. “During these responses, the team provides effective crisis response that is least intrusive to people’s lives. This approach helps reduce stigma, improves crisis response and redirects people in crisis from law enforcement to mental health and addiction specialists, ultimately decreasing the criminal justice system’s further involvement in behavioral health matters.”

Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne.

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