Orland Police Grant Expands Mental Health Health Services

ORLAND PARK, IL — The Orland Park Police Department has been awarded a federal mental health grant to help keep women with mental illness or who are suffering from drug abuse out of prison to get them the help they need.

The $744,039 grant will permit Orland Park police to partner with Trinity Services to develop a regional cross-system collaboration program to help people with mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse who encounter police situations. The goal is to use diversionary programs instead of arrest when the situation warrants it. About 300 officers will be trained how to spot and manage those situations. The focus will be on women in these incidents.

The money, along with local resources, will pay for a dedicated Mobile Crisis Response Unit staffed by officers trained in crisis intervention, clinical responders and licensed clinician who specialize in mental health and opioid addiction. The unit is expected to server 125,000 residents in Oak Forest, Orland Hills, Midlothian, Palos Heights and Palos Park.

The Orland Park Police CIT program has been nationally recognized for its efforts in area of law enforcement response to mental health related incidents. In 2017, the department was the first agency internationally to complete the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s One Mind Campaign Pledge to enhance the interaction between law enforcement and those affected by mental illness.