As used in this chapter, the term: “Behavioral health crisis” means any circumstance when symptoms of a person’s behavioral health disorder put that person or others at risk for causing personal injury or property damage. “Behavioral health disorder” means a mental or emotional illness, developmental disability, or addictive disease. “Co-responder program” means a program established […]
Community service board team members may review publicly available arrest and incarceration records and may request access to evaluate currently incarcerated individuals for the purpose of identifying individuals who may be treated more effectively within the behavioral health system rather than the criminal justice system. If such individuals are identified, the community service board team […]
Each community service board shall compile and maintain records of the services provided by co-responder teams and community service board team members, which shall include community follow-ups and actions taken on behalf of incarcerated individuals together with reasonably available outcome data. Community service boards shall report data to the department in a form developed cooperatively […]
The requirements contained in this chapter shall be contingent upon the appropriation of funds by the General Assembly or the availability of other funds. No later than July 15, 2023, and annually thereafter, the department shall submit to the board proposed budgets for co-responder programs for each community service board. The proposed budget for each […]
Any peace officer, law enforcement agency, community service board, community service board team member, public safety agency, communications officer, or any employee or contractor thereof, who acts in good faith in compliance with the provisions of this chapter shall be immune from civil or criminal liability for his or her actions in connection with any […]
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as creating an exclusive method for a law enforcement agency to establish emergency response teams combining peace officers and behavioral health specialists. History. Code 1981, § 37-12-14 , enacted by Ga. L. 2022, p. 722, § 5/SB 403.
Each community service board shall establish a co-responder program to offer assistance or consultation to peace officers responding to emergency calls involving individuals with behavioral health crises. Law enforcement agencies within a community service board’s service area may elect to partner with the community service board to establish one or more co-responder teams. When a […]
Every county shall retain a written list available for public inspection that identifies all law enforcement agencies within such county whose routine responsibilities include responding to emergency calls. Such list shall be created no later than August 1, 2022, and shall be updated immediately when additional departments assume routine responsibility for emergency response and shall […]
Each community service board shall employ or contract with behavioral health professionals who are licensed in this state to provide counseling services, or to provide other support services to individuals and their families regarding a behavioral health disorder, and whose responsibilities include participation as a community service board team member on a co-responder team. The […]
A law enforcement agency that has entered into a co-responder partnership with a community service board shall designate one or more peace officers to participate as officer team members in a co-responder team. A law enforcement agency that has not entered into a co-responder partnership with a community service board shall designate one peace officer […]
Officer team members may elect to receive crisis intervention team training as approved by the Georgia Police Officer Standards and Training Council. All communications officers and other employees of public safety agencies who make dispatch decisions shall receive educational training about identifying emergency calls involving individuals in a behavioral health crisis and dispatching appropriate response […]
When an emergency call involving an individual’s behavioral health crisis is received by a communications officer or public safety agency, and a civilian-only response team is not appropriate or available, the communications officer shall notify the co-responder team in the jurisdiction where the emergency is located, if practicable, regardless of whether other peace officers are […]
Each community service board shall establish a co-responder protocol committee for its service area which shall work to increase the availability, efficiency, and effectiveness of community response to behavioral health crises. The protocol committee shall address best practices for issues which arise during the operation of co-responder teams. Such issues include, but shall not be […]
When a co-responder team responds to a behavioral health crisis, the community service board of the service area where the crisis occurred shall contact the individual within two business days following the crisis, regardless of whether that individual was incarcerated. If the individual resides in a different community service board area, the case shall be […]
