HomeMy WebLinkAboutMobile Crisis Response
Draft FY25 CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING APPLICATION
Section 1 Requestor Information:
Requesting Entity The name of the local government or organization making the request. Do not use acronyms or abbreviations. Incorporated cities should begin with “City of” and counties
should begin with “County of.”
City of Palm Desert
Priority Number: #X of Y Multiple requests from the same entity must be ranked in priority order across all appropriations bills. For example, we need to know what your entity's number
one priority project is in FY24, not the number one in Agriculture, or the number one in Transportation, etc.
1 of 3
Project Name The project or program to be funded. If applicable, label with the name used in the latest Senate, House, or Conference Report.
City of Palm Desert Mobile Crisis Response Unit
County or Counties Impacted If more than one county, list counties in order of project’s impact high to low. Separate by commas. Use this format: Alameda, Alpine, Amador
Riverside
Grantee Legal Name The name of the local government or organization to receive funding.
City of Palm Desert
Requesting Entity Address The mailing address of the local government or organization to receive funding.
Street Address
City, CA Zip Code
Palm Desert City Hall
73510 Fred Waring Drive
Palm Desert, CA 92260
Employer Identification Number (EIN) The Employer Identification Number, also known as a Federal Tax Identification Number, assigned to the requesting entity by the IRS. Please provide
in XX-XXXXXXX format. This will only be used for verification of eligibility of entity to receive funding and will not be published.
95-2859459
Grantee Point of Contact - Name The name of a point of contact with the grantee who is authorized to complete the final grant agreement should this project be funded. This CANNOT be
a lobbyist or consultant.
Joe Barron
Section 2. Project Information
Within which account are you applying. See list of eligible accounts for reference: THUD
Amount Requested
$1,000,000
Total Project Cost
$1,000,000
What percentage of the project will this funding cover?
80%
Brief Summary of Project (50 word limit)
Please provide a concise (1-3 sentences max) description of the project. Summarize the necessary information about the project to make its case.
The City of Palm Desert is requesting CDS funding to Description of Project (1000 word limit)
The City of Palm Desert will implement a mental health mobile crisis response program integrated into the Sheriff’s dispatch center possibly in partnership with the County of Riverside.
This program is of great benefit to taxpayers by providing trained crisis response in lieu of police when dealing with a mental health issue for residents, business owners, parents,
children and adolescents, unhoused individuals, and visitors to the city of Palm Desert. The program will include two crisis counselors (clinician, behavioral health specialist or
peer) trained in crisis de-escalation and a case manager to respond to law enforcement calls based on mental health situations. This program will work directly with sheriff dispatch
to divert mental health calls from law enforcement contact and promote linkage to mental health treatment or services. The program will de-escalate the initial crisis situation in
homes, businesses, schools, and on the streets for unhoused individuals and provide case management to link the individual(s) to ongoing treatment and services to reduce the likelihood
of future law enforcement contact.
Mobile Crisis Response would focus on assessment and stabilization of callers struggling with mental health, substance use and/or interpersonal issues resulting in calls to law enforcement.
Eligible calls would include calls for mental health issues, school based crisis behavioral problems, non-violent family relationship problems or disputes, suicidal ideation, welfare
checks, substance use related problems, unhoused individuals with mental health issues in the community and other unaddressed behavioral health issues that would benefit from trained
crisis counselor response.
The program would provide a team of two crisis response counselors and a vehicle to respond directly to calls from dispatch. Sheriff Dispatchers would triage calls received through
911 and the non-emergency dispatch line to assess whether crisis response or deputy response is the
best first step. Dispatchers would confirm the situation was non-violent, non-criminal and does not involve weapons. If deputies respond, they can also request follow up by crisis
response. Once on the scene, this team would de-escalate the original crisis situation and develop a plan for addressing the identifying issue. This team would not be carded or responsible
for 5150/5585 evaluations, but could transport voluntary individuals to mental health urgent care if appropriate. The team would be background screened to allow for law enforcement
radios to be placed in their vehicle which would be used to take referral calls directly from dispatch personnel. Once the initial crisis was de-escalated, the case manager would conduct
follow up to link participants to needed behavioral health and supportive services including: Outpatient mental health treatment, substance use services, veteran support, employment
assistance, homeless outreach services, shelter and housing linkage, parenting classes, medical and recuperative care, food security services, insurance assistance and other needed
case management based on individual situations.
Data would be entered after each call by staff into either the county’s data management system or through the use of a purchased data management system such as Salesforce. Data collected
would include type of original call for service, type of response, disposition of call, demographics of caller, location of call for GIS mapping, etc. The City is seeing an increase
in call volume that demonstrates the need for these services.
Budget:
The project will fund the costs of two crisis response counselors and a case manager trained in crisis de-escalation over a three-year period to begin the program as a pilot program.
The $1,000,000 request amount is a comprehensive total to fund the initial launch of the project, and includes full staff salaries and benefits.
Has the organization or any potential sub-grantees been subject to sanction or litigation by State, Local, or Federal governments in the past five years? If so, please provide details.
No.
Project Website
https://www.palmdesert.gov/
Importance to the State of California:
This project is directly in line with State of California housing services, outreach, and public safety priorities to connect those in crisis situations, suffering from substance use
disorders, and unhoused in need of resources with those who are able to provide assistance, counseling, and connections to housing assistance programs. This will be especially critical
in the Coachella Valley, which is seeing an increase in crisis-type calls.
Benefit to Low Income Communities
The City of Palm Desert includes 4 out of 7 census tracts that have been designated either Disadvantaged or Areas of Persistent Poverty according to USDOT’s grant project locator tool.
The City also has significant population center’s below the State MHI’s disadvantaged community threshold, according to CA DWR’s DAC Mapping Tool. The City’s population is 35% non-white
identifying, with a vibrant Latino community. The City ranks poorly on the California Healthy
Places Index for housing conditions: it is in the bottom 3.9% for housing habitability and the bottom 11.5% for severe housing cost burden. These services will directly target providing
resources and access to services to our most disadvantaged, unhoused community members and those suffering from crisis situations in need of de-escalation. By intervening early through
de-escalation tactics, connecting to resources and providing timely support, these units help prevent escalation of mental health crises, reduce the burden on emergency rooms, and contribute
to overall improved mental health outcomes for Californians. Additionally, this unit will reduce the burden on our law enforcement to respond to such incidents without training for
such crisis intervention-type incidents. This will ensure the City is able to provide a more rounded and targeted effort within our community to prevent crises, increase mental health
services, and connect individuals to the personalized services needed for their recovery from the crisis situation(s).
Section 3. Account Specific Questions:
Agriculture Subcommittee
Interior Subcommittee
Military Subcommittee
THUD Subcommittee
Section 4. Support and Funding History
Has this project been submitted to other Members of Congress for FY24? no
List Any Elected Officials, Government Entities, or (Non-Government) Organizations Partnering in or Supporting the Project
State Senator Alex Padilla, CM Ken Calvert
Please format as: State Senator Jane Doe, City of Cityville, Community Organization, etc.
Has this project previously been submitted by the requesting memeber or another member of congress to the Appropriations Committee?
No.
Has this project previously been awarded funds through Congressionally Directed Spending?
No.
Section 5. Contact Information
Joe Barron
Senior Contracts and Grants Analyst
jbarron@palmdesert.gov
760-7756-64591
Account Specific Questions:
THUD Subcommittee
Economic Development Initiatives (EDIs) - National Objectives
For EDI requests you MUST include relevant data on how activities or projects address at least one of the three National Objectives of the broader CDBG program. HUD defines the national
objectives of CBDG as:
Benefiting low- and moderate-income persons or communities;
Preventing or eliminating slums or blight; or
Addressing community development needs having a particular urgency because existing conditions pose a serious and immediate threat to the health or welfare of the community for which
other funding is not available.
Please use data from HUD as much as possible to justify your project's eligibility. If you are justifying the project's benefits to low- and moderate-income (LMI) persons or communities,
please review this HUD resource: https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/cdbg/cdbg-low-moderate-income-data/
Use the “Map Application” tool to provide the necessary data points demonstrating the LMI benefit: https://hud.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=ffd0597e8af24f88b501b7e7f326bedd
A critical focus of these units will be responding to mental health crisis situations and calls for de-escalation. This will allow the units to meet these individuals and offer to connect
them with support services for domestic violence services, mental health care, substance youth support services, temporary housing, education, and other assistive programs that they
may not otherwise be aware of or have access to without City involvement. This will directly benefit low and moderate income residents within our community, particularly those experiencing
homelessness.
Staff will be trained in cultural sensitivity and strengthening community support networks through collaborative efforts with community based organizations to connect these individuals
with the right programs for them, and reducing financial barriers to access support services.
The HUD LMI Summary Map shows that tracts within the City have the following low and moderate = income population numbers (three selected to show need and impact):
Tract 0451171: 340 individuals
Tract 0451172: 1230 Individuals
Tract 0451191: 330 Individuals
Additionally, the housing focus specifically will address the City’s exacerbated need for housing burden reduction, as tracts within the City score among the worst in the state for housing
burden and housing habitability, according to the State’s Healthy Places Index.