JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) – The city of Jonesboro is hoping to help those battling issues with mental health, all thanks to a new grant.

On Friday, Oct. 20, the city announced it received a $550,000 grant from the Department of Justice to create crisis intervention teams to better handle incidents involving those with mental health and substance abuse disorders.

A news release said the Connect and Protect grant is a behavioral health program that will partner the Jonesboro Police Department with Arisa Health Inc., to address increased calls surrounding mental health issues.

Mayor Harold Copenhaver said this will ensure better outcomes when such people become entangled in the criminal justice system.

“This partnership strives to deliver a compassionate, effective, and minimally intrusive crisis-response system,” he said. “We believe this is vastly preferable to subjecting such people to the criminal justice system due to illness-related behaviors over which they have little or no control.”

According to the city, the three-year grant will fund teams composed of police officers and mental health professionals to respond to complaints in which the problem appears to be more medical than criminal.

“This grant will enable our officers to respond to individuals in crisis more proactively,” Jonesboro assistant police Chief Lynn Waterworth said.

She noted no police department in Arkansas has more officers with formal mental health intervention training than Jonesboro’s.

To secure the grant, the city agreed to provide a 39% match of nearly $214,000 for office space, project supervision, and basic equipment.

Copyright 2023 KAIT. All rights reserved.