BALTIMORE — This fall Johns Hopkins University will assemble a Behavioral Health Crisis Support Team to serve students, faculty, staff, and community members experiencing a crisis on or near its Baltimore campuses.
This pilot program will first launch around Homewood and then expand to the university’s other Baltimore campuses.
“It became clear that many of the calls being addressed by Campus Safety and Security could be more effectively and appropriately handled by behavioral health clinicians,” said JHU President Ronald J. Daniels.
The program is in partnership between health clinicians and campus security and offer services including a 24/7 in-house mobile crisis team for those in need of immediate assistance while experiencing behavioral health crises and short-term mental health support and resources after an incident to ensure the individual has access to continuation of care.
Dr. Ronald Means, Chief Medical Officer of Catholic Charities of Baltimore, has been brought into help create and implement the program.
The university said they've held more than 15 small group listening sessions with student leaders, community and neighborhood advocates, and faculty/staff groups including leading up to this decision.
Recently, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said the city's 911 system would soon begin diverting some behavioral health crisis calls from police to mental health professionals.
