It’s not just about the homeless, but about people in need.

At their work session Wednesday morning, the Schuylkill County Commissioners approved a resolution supporting a Point-in-Time count of those in need in the county.

Next Wednesday, Jan. 24, will be the 20th national day for volunteers to make contact with people who need help. On that day, Elaine Gilbert, of the county’s Mental Health and Development Services office, said volunteers will be taking to the streets to find not only the homeless, but people in need of services.

“Over 100 volunteers go out starting at 8 p.m.” Gilbert said. “They hit parking lots, walk train tracks, and visit known camp sites where homeless people might be. In the day, the volunteers go to libraries and other known areas like encampments. When we make contact with the people, we ask them a couple of questions whether they’re willing to do a survey. We offer them a voucher for a motel or hotel we have an agreement with. The idea is to get them under a roof for one night, and then reach out with services the next day.”

The resolution recognizes MH/DS, along with the county Children and Youth, county Office of Senior Services, Schuylkill Community Action, Servants to All, veterans’ offices, police and churches of Schuylkill County and many providers of human services for participating in the Point-in-Time count next week.

Flyers go out to let people know about the resources, Gilbert said.

“It’s not just about mental illness, it’s about hookups with community resources,” she said. “In Schuylkill County, hundreds of volunteers go out into the cold to reach out to anybody who needs resources. There are those in-between people who are struggling who also need help.”

Training grant

Training emergency personnel to recognize someone with mental illness could save the lives of all of the people involved.

At Wednesday’s work session, the Schuylkill County Commissioners discussed a request from the county’s MH/DS office they will consider next week to submit a $43,000 grant application to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to provide Crisis Intervention Training for 10 people to attend a 40-hour train-the-trainer program for the county’s CIT program.

Gilbert explained the program is a community-based approach to improve outcomes when law enforcement encounters individuals with mental illness.

“The National Association of Mental Illness provides 40 hours of training for police officers, first responders and corrections officers,” Gilbert said. “It will pay for 10 individuals’ registration for the training, travel, hotel. Those ten people can train many other officers, and first responders how to de-escalate a situation with an adult with mental illness.”

It’s not just about de-escalating potential unnecessary violence, it’s also about training emergency personnel to connect those with mental health issues with the right community resources that will help them.

“It brings together drug and alcohol, children and youth services, juvenile probation, mental health and senior services,” Gilbert said, mentioning several county agencies. “It’s a connection for police officers to understand individuals with mental illness without using force. We connect police officers to human services so they know what is in the area, so police can connect those individuals to the right services.”

The Crisis Intervention Team was created after the shooting of a mental health patient in Memphis in 1988. Counties all over the country put forth this training, Gilbert said.