El Dorado County Grand Jury 2010-2011 Prevention and Intervention for Mental Health Crises

Recommendations 2

• R1
  The EDC Board of Supervisors should immediately appoint an ad hoc committee to develop a plan for prevention of and response to emergency health crises and make recommendations for the creation of an official structure to implement and manage this plan. This committee would be chaired by the Director of Health Services and will be comprised of executive representatives of the Sheriff, the District Attorney, the Chiefs of South Lake Tahoe and Placerville Police Departments, EDC Emergency Services Authority and other entities as necessary (e.g. Mental Health Commission, National Alliance for Mental Illness). The committee should meet and make its recommendations within ninety days from the date of its creation which will then be considered for adoption by the BOS. The recommended official mental health emergency response organization might be a variation of the Incident Command System that originated in California to respond and fight fires and has been adopted nationally to respond to all emergencies, large and small.
• R2
  The recommended emergency mental health crisis plan should also address conflict intervention training, required drills, intervention strategies, identification of warning signs, communication and notification protocols. RESPONSES Responses to both numbered findings and recommendations in this report are required in accordance with California Penal Code §933 and §933.05. Address responses to: The Honorable Suzanne N. Kingsbury, Presiding Judge of the El Dorado County Superior Court, 1354 Johnson Blvd., South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150. This report has been provided to the following for response:  El Dorado County Sheriff  EDC Director of Mental Health  Placerville Chief of Police  EDC District Attorney  Director, National Alliance on Mental Illness  EDC Director of Emergency Services Authority  President, EDC Mental Health Commission  EDC Chief of Probation  Director of Marshall Hospital Placerville, CA Elected officials under statute are given 60 days to respond, and non-elected officials are provided a 90-day response period from the release date of this report.