OCSD's New Behavioral Health Bureau To Improve Homeless Outreach

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — Orange County Sheriff's Department officers are honing their process in assisting the homeless population and those with mental health disorders with a newly launched Behavioral Health Bureau, both in the community and in our jails.

The newly established Bureau offers a robust program that includes proactive engagement, case management, and resource distribution, according to a department spokesperson. Captain Nate Wilson will supervise the Behavioral Health Bureau's six sergeants, eight Homeless Outreach Deputies and approximately 50 Homeless Liaison Deputies assigned to the Sheriff’s Department’s 13 contract cities, according to Sheriff Don Barnes.

The Bureau evolved from the Department’s previous Homeless Outreach Team program, which launched in November 2016 with two regional teams assigned to proactively work with homeless individuals and strike a balance between providing services and enforcing the law.

Since then, the Sheriff has identified the need to build upon the original program.

“Although many of the homeless individuals we come in contact with report struggling with mental health or substance abuse disorders, this is not an issue specific to the homeless population,” said Barnes. “The Sheriff’s Department often gets called to respond to help individuals in the midst of a mental health crisis, and we recognized the need to widen our approach.”

While assisting the homeless will remain a core function of the Bureau, the team has also implemented a case management component. They conduct weekly reviews of all calls in the Sheriff’s Department service area involving an individual experiencing a mental health crisis. They review the scenario and allocate follow-up assignments to determine what resources may be available.

“You often hear of multiple calls to one home with repeated issues with little to no follow-up,” Capt. Wilson said. “This case management practice will bring all those calls under one team to be triaged, reviewed and – if appropriate – assigned a recommended course of action.”

Critical to the Behavioral Health Bureau's success is the Sheriff’s Department’s collaboration with the Orange County Health Care Agency (HCA), which provides representatives to work alongside deputies in the field and during the case review process.

“We are employing a pilot co-responder model that includes a mental health expert, which will help this team be more effective,” Wilson said. “Having the ability to rely on someone with extensive knowledge of mental health issues is an invaluable resource for us. This team would not be successful without HCA’s partnership.”

Building a multi-disciplinary team with additional service providers in the County will be the Behavioral Health Bureau’s next step in providing holistic services. The Bureau will continue to identify partners that will increase the opportunity to help those in need.

The Bureau also is increasing monthly training for team members, including a focus on how to handle the many critical incidents they may come across in their role.

Ultimately, Wilson said, the Behavioral Health Bureau's goal is to create a professional, collaborative, and appropriate response to mental health calls for service, aiming to better connect people with services and reduce recidivism.

“We want to approach these cases with compassion and we want to provide solutions,” Wilson said. “Of course, we will rely on enforcement when criminal violations of law occur, but we hope to provide individuals with a path to get them the help they need.”

What do you think about the Orange County Sheriff's Department's new approach to helping and working with the homeless for a long-term solution? Send us your thoughts in the comments, or by emailing your Patch editor.