{"id":20650,"date":"2023-10-18T09:51:16","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T13:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/?post_type=press-releases&p=20650"},"modified":"2023-10-18T11:30:31","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T15:30:31","slug":"sen-ossoff-delivering-funding-to-strengthen-macon-bibb-countys-co-responder-program","status":"publish","type":"press-releases","link":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/press-releases\/sen-ossoff-delivering-funding-to-strengthen-macon-bibb-countys-co-responder-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Sen. Ossoff Delivering Funding to Strengthen Macon-Bibb County\u2019s Co-Responder Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

Federal funding will help expand Macon-Bibb’s partnership with River Edge Behavioral Health, where first responders and mental health experts respond together to health emergencies<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Macon, Ga<\/strong>. \u2014 U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is delivering new funding to strengthen mental health and law enforcement resources in Macon-Bibb County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Ossoff is delivering a $140,000 Federal grant through the U.S. Department of Justice to expand partnerships between the River Edge Behavioral Health and Macon-Bibb County\u2019s Sheriff\u2019s Office to respond to substance abuse and mental health emergencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program is a coordinated effort that pairs employees of the Sheriff\u2019s Office and River Edge to respond to emergency calls that appear to involve behavioral health or substance abuse events. This model utilizes the combined expertise of the Sheriff\u2019s Office and River Edge specialists to deescalate the given situation and connect individuals to the proper mental health resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen first responders enter a situation with someone in a crisis, we want to ensure they have the training and backup they need to defuse the situation and make sure that everyone emerges safely,\u201d Sen. Ossoff said. <\/strong>\u201cI brought Republicans and Democrats together to deliver these resources to support mental health care services and law enforcement efforts to keep families safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bibb County Sheriff David Davis said,<\/strong> \u201cThe co-responder initiative is a game changer in how law enforcement and behavioral health professionals work together to find a sympathetic way to help individuals in crisis avoid becoming another jail statistic. We are very grateful for Senator Ossoff\u2019s leadership in obtaining this DOJ grant to help fund this life changing opportunity.\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are grateful for funding and our partnership with the Bibb County Sheriff\u2019s Office. Macon-Bibb County\u2019s co-responder program will be a positive change in the way we engage individuals experiencing a mental health crisis and \/ or homelessness, by diverting them to proper mental health resources provided by River Edge,\u201d said River Edge CEO Cass Hatcher.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We’re very grateful for Senator Ossoff’s commitment to funding de-escalation training and co-responding coordination. This grant will be a vital resource for the safety of our law enforcement officers and our neighbors experiencing mental health crises,” said Macon-Bibb County Commissioner Seth Clark.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Ossoff continues to support law enforcement and resources for addressing mental health crises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, the Senate passed<\/a> Sen. Ossoff\u2019s bipartisan bill to fund law enforcement and mental health services by funding trainings for first responders; crisis intervention teams; mental health courts; and other programs that help law enforcement assist individuals experiencing mental illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Ossoff also pushed for the bipartisan Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Reauthorization Act of 2022<\/em><\/a>, legislation he co-sponsored to improve public safety and help law enforcement respond to calls involving mental health emergencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

# # #<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Federal funding will help expand Macon-Bibb’s partnership with River Edge Behavioral Health, where first responders and mental health experts respond together to health emergencies Macon, Ga. \u2014 U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is delivering new funding to strengthen mental health and law enforcement resources in Macon-Bibb County. Sen. Ossoff is delivering a $140,000 Federal grant through […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20650","press-releases","type-press-releases","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/20650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-releases"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/20650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20660,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_releases\/20650\/revisions\/20660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ossoff.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}