Mental Health Work Group of CUAPB

09/12/2025

The Larry R. Hill Medical Reform Act, which CUAPB's mental health work group wrote and pushed in the legislature, was just upheld in court.

The law passed with bipartisan support last session as part of the public safety bill. Chief Judge Sara Grewing had paused the law earlier while she considered whether to grant an injunction.

08/15/2025

This research validates our approach with the passage of Travis' Law that requires 911 call centers to dispatch mental health crisis responders as primary responders in mental health crisis calls.

𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐞𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

A landmark peer-reviewed study in Psychiatric Research and Clinical Practice tracked outcomes for people experiencing a mental health crisis in five communities. Over an 11-month period, researchers found that individuals who received help from mobile crisis teams were 45.2 percent less likely to be arrested than those who received a law enforcement-only response. As the authors note, “only the mobile crisis response [had] a statistically significant reduced incidence rate of arrest,” suggesting these teams “may encourage crisis service pathways outside of 911 and law enforcement, which may decrease … the likelihood of future arrests,” and save law enforcement resources so they can focus on solving serious crime.

Here are key findings:
𝐌𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬: “Only the mobile crisis response [had] a statistically significant reduced incidence rate of arrest…[with a] 45.2 percent lower incidence rate of arrest compared to law enforcement-only recipients…”

𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧-𝐋𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬—𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐬—𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭: Researchers examined “mobile crisis, co‐response, and office‐ based crisis intervention” crisis teams to mental health calls for service and found that while “all three crisis models showed fewer post-year arrests than their respective law enforcement-only comparisons only the mobile crisis response” had a statistically significant impact on lowering arrest rates.

𝐌𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭, 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐓𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬: “Mental health service clients and their families prefer non‐law enforcement models, which may increase trust in the mobile crisis team's recommendations…Mobile crisis teams may encourage crisis service pathways outside of 911 and law enforcement, which may decrease risk of future law enforcement contacts or arrests… The findings support the expansion of mobile crisis teams to non‐threatening mental health crises in lieu of law enforcement.”

Other key findings include: mobile crisis response helps reduce cycling in-and-out of jail, and law enforcement responses to mental health calls can escalate crises.

06/21/2025

The piece below was written by civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong in response to a MN Public Radio story attempting to humanize terrorist Vance Boelter and excuse his conduct as mental illness. This does a terrible disservice to our neighbors who live with mental health issues.
Mr. Boelter's motivation was misogyny and the desire to impose his beliefs on women's bodies through violence. That makes him a terrorist.

05/31/2025

Good article. We prefer the term "expanded response network" because referring to other services as "alternative responses" still centers police as the primary response.

Interestingly, in its last contract the LAPD police union (LAPPL) negotiated a long list of calls they will no longer respond to. We're trying to get something like that in the MPD contract, forcing the city to create the expanded infrastructure to address those calls outside of policing.

More and more communities have concluded that the police can’t be expected to solve every problem and are shifting some of the load to others.

05/30/2025

Now that the governor has signed our bill, we can brag about it. It means that people in jails will now get the medications they were on when they were arrested--a lifesaving measure. I literally get calls every day from people in jails who are not getting their insulin, anti-seizure meds, heart meds, HIV meds or mental health meds and end up desperately ill. Starting 8/1 that will no longer be an option for jails.

Special shout out to our house author, Rep. Jess Hanson.

04/18/2025

We've been working directly with this family and the way they've been treated by law enforcement is an absolute travesty. Best believe we'll be at the legislature addressing this issue next session.

Law enforcement’s refusal to transport a mentally ill man to treatment is raising questions over the effectiveness of emergency hold orders.

02/25/2025

Travis' Law in action in Dakota County. Yet there are still counties that refuse to follow the law.

Statewide data, obtained by 5 INVESTIGATES, shows referrals from law enforcement agencies to mental health professionals are improving.

07/29/2024

This Psychology Today article points out that the 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐲𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐲 (𝐈𝐋) 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞. The article raises the question: If police perjury is systematic, then 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐮 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬?

The grief that many survivors of su***de loss feel is doubly traumatic when it involves police brutality and police perjury. Here's what su***de awareness advocates need to know.

07/28/2024

Article quote: "As someone living with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type (a combination of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder), one of my greatest fears is being killed during a crisis. Too often, mental health crises are met by untrained responders who resort to force. This is why people experiencing mental health crises are 16 times more likely to be killed by police than other civilians stopped by law enforcement. " This Psychology Today article provides great insight into why calls for help require the participation of mental health professionals.

Personal Perspective: One of my greatest fears is being killed during a mental health crisis. Here are five things for de-escalators to know.

07/21/2024

𝐁𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟎 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬…
𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟎 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐈𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲

You might have heard about the last 20 seconds of a tragic story. Law enforcement had been sent out on multiple occasions to assist a person experiencing a mental health crisis. In the last 20 seconds of the last contact with law enforcement officers, this person was physically harmed or killed. You can read about the last 20 seconds of this tragedy, but what matters more is the pattern of repeated contact with law enforcement—what happened long before that last 20 seconds.

Consider these realities about mental health crisis response in Minnesota:

𝐌𝐍 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐞𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧-𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩.
This is true despite the existence of 988 call lines and mobile mental health crisis teams available in every county. People experiencing mental illness often get repeat contact with law enforcement and little or no contact with mobile mental health crisis teams or mental health services. This problem is avoidable. Mental health crisis response in Minnesota is underfunded and underused—by design.

𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐞.
Repeatedly sending law enforcement officers risks entanglements with the criminal justice system and avoidable use of force. This is reckless and dangerous. Police are not mental health professionals. Early contact with mobile mental health crisis professionals can stabilize patients on-scene and enable planning for follow-up services.

𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐞𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬—𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬—𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐭𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐰. 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐬’ 𝐋𝐚𝐰.
Travis’ Law (2021) was passed to require 911 dispatchers to send county mobile crisis teams to mental health crisis calls for help. However, the law has been ignored. The result is a denial of proper care and avoidable of death or injury to people in crisis.

𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰-𝐮𝐩 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬. 𝐌𝐍 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭.
By not assisting persons in long-term crisis and deferring to police for in-person response, local health authorities increase the risk of harm including attempted “su***de by cop.” Relying on law enforcement for mental health crisis responses wastes taxpayer money. Helping people to stabilize is smart. Do your county officials and politicians consistently underfund the smarter approach?

𝐁𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞: 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩. Decision-makers are excusing the over-reliance on law enforcement. They are not telling you about the missed opportunities to use the correct professionals – to provide real help.

𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐰. They must adequately fund mental health crisis response teams and require 911 dispatchers to send these teams as primary responders to mental health crisis calls.

07/21/2024

Join us on Wednesday, July 24 at 5:30 pm for a discussion on mental health crisis response. North Branch Library, 6355 379th St, North Branch.

A proper mental health crisis response could have saved Jamie Crabtree's life.

The Mental Health Work Group spun off from an organization involved in addressing police brutality issues, is hosting a community discussion July 24 at the North Branch Library. Free and open to the public this starts at 5:30 p.m., with refreshments being served.

07/19/2024

𝐁𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟎 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟎 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞-𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞. Dispatching police every time means missed opportunities to help people and is rolling the dice with peoples' well-being. It is time to obey the laws which would prevent routine use of police on mental health calls. Funding county mobile crisis teams for 24/7 service and using those teams on 911 calls IS STATE LAW. We remember Jamie Crabtree of North Branch and work for improvements in her memory. NOTE: The voice you hear is MICHELLE GROSS (CUAPB). The city's personnel activated the wrong camera when Michelle Gross was speaking, so she was out-of-frame.