New London — Jeanne Milstein, the city’s Human Services Director, says a $200,000 boost in funding in the mayor’s proposed budget could reduce the number of mental-health-related calls to police.
She is developing a plan for a Peer Navigator program and looking to hire at least three people “with lived mental health experience” to perform follow-up work with individuals with mental health issues who find themselves dealing with police officers.
About 40% of police calls for service in the city are mental health related and Milstein said the program could reduce that number and curtail repeat calls from certain individuals. Navigators would work with individuals to get treatment, housing, jobs or whatever it is that had initially prompted a situation that ended with a call to police.