Austin Independent School District is based in Austin, Texas, and serves about 75,000 students. Established in 1881, the district serves most of the City of Austin, the neighboring municipalities of Sunset Valley and San Leanna, and unincorporated areas in Travis County.
Austin Independent School District (AISD) reports that mental health calls have increased districtwide year over year. In the past five years, AISD Police Department (AISD PD) reports a 63% increase in mental health crisis calls.
AISD PD plans to employ two contracted, part-time Licensed Mental Health Professionals (LMHP) to respond to and assess high-risk crisis calls. The LMHPs will develop crisis intervention knowledge, quickly respond to crisis calls, increase awareness in school communities, AISD families, and local hospitals; and increase officer skills and abilities when responding to crisis calls. In partnership with the LMHPs, AISD PD plans to develop training videos and materials to be accessed by AISD officers via an online platform for police officer training. Cohort 2021.
Program Goals
With funding from the grant, AISD PD aims to:
- Expedite the response time for mental health crisis calls by having dedicated mental health professionals serve in the police department
- Fund two contracted, part-time licensed mental health professionals to join the police department to respond to and assess high-risk crisis calls
- Support training around anti-bias and verbal de-escalation
- Fund overtime for police officers
Key Partnership Organizations
Integral Care