The Aurora-based Personal Development Association has launched a new mobile crisis response team to help those struggling with mental, emotional, or behavioral problems, and residents of Kendall and southern Kane counties. provides crisis intervention directly to
The new service will work in conjunction with other related services such as the National 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, the Association for Individual Development’s Crisis Line of the Fox Valley (630-966-9393), local law enforcement, community members and other community organizations. work together. said an AID official.
Alyssa Marrero, Program Manager for the Mobile Crisis Response Team, said in a press release: future. “
The release states that the service is available to all community members within AID’s service area, regardless of age, income, or health insurance coverage.
In a phone call, Marrero explained why they are adding this new service and how they can take advantage of it.
“This is a great opportunity for communities to access mental health and crisis intervention services without going to the hospital or calling 911,” she said. “The state has created grants throughout Illinois. There are 68 agencies with similar programs like this to provide crisis intervention assistance in assigned communities.”
Examples of problems Marrero said the new service could solve include postnatal depression, substance abuse, and mental illness due to problems such as homelessness.
“The great thing is there is no insurance requirement, which is available to anyone in our service area,” Marrero said. It’s about training and resource allocation Police officers are not trained in mental health crisis interventions They do get some training but it’s not related to police intervention But it’s not about understanding what the person’s crisis really is. We feel this is a better option and doesn’t abuse these resources, and that’s what it’s really about.”
Marrero concluded by emphasizing that “it’s important that people connect to the right resources and services,” and that the police “have been plagued with this problem for a very long time and shouldn’t have.” I emphasized.
According to the American Psychological Association’s 2021 publication, statistics show that 20% of calls for help from police involve a mental health or substance abuse crisis.
“We have been working closely with the Northern Aurora Police Department and several Kendall County police departments,” Marrero said. “We actually have a mobile crisis response in-house when these departments receive mental health calls, to better establish relationships with law enforcement and to ensure that we are available. We’ve had them help inform the community so they can refer them to us.”
The service actually launched at the end of August last year, but Marrero said it continues to aim to increase its visibility within the community.
“We have a 24/7 service and people can call 988 or our 24-hour mobile crisis line,” she said. “We sent out some press releases in November, but we are a new 24-hour program to raise awareness in our community, hand out flyers and tell people who we are. , going to agencies and increasing call volume.”
Staff has been hired for the program, according to Marrero, with 22 people hired and only two positions remaining.
“This program has been developed over the past year and a half. It has been recruited, trained, and has created many jobs because of it,” she said. “One example is recovery support professionals for people who have had a mental health diagnosis and are recovering. They may not have recovered. They don’t have a degree in social work, but they do have experience.”
According to the group’s publicity materials, during the intervention team members will work with the individual at risk to identify their needs. Provides referrals to community resources and treatment services such as.
The mobile program was funded by a grant from the Illinois Department of Mental Health, which Marrero said was “funded by federal and state cannabis funds.”
For more information on the Mobile Crisis Response Team, please call Marrero at 630-746-7738 or email amarrero@aidcares.org.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
